


How to Love A Lycanwing

by aoeros



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, M/M, Multi, Mythical Forces, Other, Out of Character, POV Alternating, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Tags Contain Spoilers, Unhappy Ending, do not copy to other sites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-08-13 17:44:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 46,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20178232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aoeros/pseuds/aoeros
Summary: Exiled from Berk, Hiccup is forced to find a new home and settles on an island outside the borders of the Barbaric Archipelago. From day one, the island's inhabitants make it clear Hiccup and Toothless are not welcome, but after a chance encounter with the lycanwing Jokul and knowing they have nowhere else to go, Hiccup chooses to stay. Mutual curiosity grows into trust and fondness as the two spend their days together and Hiccup finds a true home on the island with Jokul. But as ambitions to create a place for those like them blossom and Hiccup forgets more about the past, a messenger is sent to tell him that the past hasn't forgotten him and he learns a harsh lesson in how good things must always come to an end when tragedy shows its hand.UPDATE :: Currently being rewritten. The rewrite will be posted a separate and new story/series.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This ended up turning into something a lot bigger than just a cute and fluffy story like I had originally planned, so I'm going to apologize in advance about the sudden plot drop that comes in later chapters. I did try to make it flow as naturally as I could without relying on too many massive time jumps when I shifted gears, and I hope you enjoy it regardless.

Snowfire made her way slowly through the caverns, stepping over and between the fallen corpses of her flock and the humans that invaded, leaving behind a heavy trail of blood that left a perfect imprint of her path. The ancient dragon cared little for the dead around her, nor did she care for the way her body threatened to collapse from blood loss and exhaustion. The spears that decorated her hide, the arrows that pierced the soft flesh of her underbelly, the harpoon lodged at the base of her throat; Snowfire paid them no mind. She knew her fate. Knew she would not survive the night and would join the slain members of her flock by morning. Every instinct was telling her to lay down and sleep for the last time, but the elderly alpha could do no such thing.

If she was to die, she wished to gaze upon the face of her dearest one last time. To feel the warmth of his body as she slipped into eternal slumber. Snowfire wanted nothing more than to feel the reassuring hold and hear the gentle voice of her beloved mate. For the first time in her long life, Snowfire wanted the chance to say goodbye to someone; the complete opposite of how she had lived her life, determined to ensure she never had to do such a thing.

But, as she reached her beloved, lying peacefully in their nest, Snowfire could see there was no warmth for him to give. A sword, bearing the crest of the human flock, rested firmly in the soft flesh of his belly. A pool of blood beneath him, dirtying the soft brown fur on his head. Snowfire let out a quiet hum, pressing her snout to his cheek in hopes of feeling any sign of life, but there was none. Her beloved was lost to her, slain by the very humans that had once claimed to love him. Agony overwhelmed her senses and in a fit of rage and sorrow, Snowfire let out a piercing cry that resonated through the nest. Her fit was brief, exhausting the little energy she had left, and Snowfire collapsed around her mate. Her tail curled around him, pulling him close to her to be tucked safely at her side.

If she was able, she would have shed tears for the boy. Her mate was a blessing to the world. He lacked the spirit of a fighter, living as a pure nurturer of life rather than a taker of it. When he laughed, it was enough to fill her old heart with joy and energy. When he spoke, he could coax even the most stubborn of hatchlings from their shells. He could sing and dance with the flock as if he had been born for them.

"Forgive me, my dearest."

Had she never planted the seed of hope or the idea of peace between their flocks in his mind, he never would have returned to the strange human nest with one of their hatchlings. He never would have tried to tell them they could live peacefully; the hatchling never would have been killed, and the rage-induced onslaught of her flock upon their nest never would have happened. Her flock and mate would still be alive, playing together as they often did. No one would have died; all would be as it was.

It was not fair. He deserved so much more than what he got. He deserved _ everything_. Snowfire opened her eyes slowly and looked at the lifeless form of the human she loved so much. He really did deserve a better fate than this.

A surge of energy shot through her and the elder forced herself to her feet, staring intently at the boy. No. She would not allow it. She would not allow her mate to suffer such a pitiful end, slain by his own sire solely for wanting peace to be able to live and love her freely. Snowfire ripped the sword from him, throwing it aside with a loud crash as it landed somewhere in the cavern, before sealing his wound with her ice. A warm glow illuminated her chest, glowing brighter and brighter until it was gone with a burst of pain. Snowfire collapsed, feeling the warmth return to her mate as his chest began to rise and fall with soft breaths.

His fur changed from soft brown to snow white as her vision began to fade and breathing got harder by the second. But, she was happy. She was relieved. Her dearest Jokul would live again. Perhaps he would find his place in the world. A place for him to be safe and free to live as he chose. That was her wish for him. Snowfire released her final breath in a gentle puff, moving the fur on his head ever so softly. She did not live to see his now bright blue eyes open or watch as the few survivors of her flock came out of hiding to greet their new alpha.


	2. Chapter 2

_ "You're not my son." _

Stoick's words repeated themselves in Hiccup's mind, the searing sting still strong. He never thought Stoick would disown him. The worst Hiccup had seen was a physical beating, though the chief had never once raised a hand to him. The anger and confusion were more than expected, and Hiccup had been prepared for that, but never in a thousand years would he have imagined what he had received. The words had stunned him, and Hiccup would forever be grateful to Astrid for being there for him. Had it not been for her and her quick thinking, Gods only knew what would've happened to Toothless. It hurt to leave her behind, but perhaps it was for the best. The village respected her above anyone else in his generation.

Maybe one day, through her efforts, he could return.

Until then, it was just him and Toothless. And, they needed to find a place to call home for the time being. The Night Fury had been flying for hours, through the night and most of the day. He was certain they weren't even in the Archipelago anymore. Hiccup knew that Toothless could probably fly for a lot longer as long as he kept a fair pace and didn't do anything extravagant, but he didn't want to push the dragon's limits. Besides that, Hiccup could only stay awake for so long and the last thing they needed was for him to fall asleep when he was the one that kept Toothless in the air.

"I think it's time we found a place to rest," Hiccup urged. His suggestion earned a confident chuff from the Night Fury and he shook his head. "I know, bud, but I can't stay awake forever."

A rumble was what he got in return and Hiccup pat the base of Toothless's neck to reassure him he wasn't upset. It wasn't his fault he couldn't fly on his own, so he didn't need to feel sorry. The two slowed to a leisurely speed as they scanned the seas around them for a place to land. There was nothing for miles as far as they could tell and before long, Toothless adjusted to a quicker pace to aid in the search. Wherever they were, it was completely devoid of any kind of land. It was as if they reached the edge of the world.

Their search took maybe an hour before they managed to find an island. It was relatively large, at least compared to Berk, with a snow-capped mountain as the central landmark. Like Berk, it had a dense forest with cliffs of its own. Not much different than many islands he knew of. It was as good a place as any to camp for a while. They would need to get a better feel for the place to determine if it was safe to stay more than a few nights. Circling the island for a suitable spot to land, Hiccup got a better look at it. And, the thing that caught his attention the most was a village.

From the view he had, he could tell it was an abandoned and decrepit place. Curious, and seeing it was an open area, Hiccup urged Toothless to descend into the village. Once landed, the Viking youth dismounted and looked around. The village was built on a series of landings, connected by bridges; though, many of the routes had long since fallen apart. Hiccup looked at the Night Fury, who seemed just as curious as he was, and the two silently decided to split up and do some investigating. At the very least, if they could learn why the people of the village left, it would help them decide if it was safe or not to stay themselves.

Making his way through the village, he found evidence of a battle. Many of the buildings were damaged and Hiccup had come across a few spines that suggested a fight with a Sharp-class dragon similar to a Deadly Nadder. Most of the village was relatively untouched when compared to the damage Berk suffered during raids, though. The damage to the buildings he saw seemed to be caused mostly be weather and neglect rather than dragons.

"What in Odin's name happened here?" he asked quietly to himself, dropping the spine he was currently holding in favor of pulling out his journal to jot down some notes. "Food raid maybe?"

He supposed it wouldn't be out of the question, but even then, the dragons that attacked Berk made a point to attack houses as distractions. It didn't make much sense for this village to be spared that.

Hiccup jumped and turned at the sound of something scuttling behind him, but of course he didn't see anything. Tucking his journal back into his vest, Hiccup took a few steps forward in hopes of catching a glimpse of whatever had run off, but clearly he'd missed his chance. He was only slightly disappointed as he shrugged it off as maybe rats and continued on his way. Before long, he caught sight of a large building that seemed to act as the center point of the village. Hiccup recognized it as the great hall with ease and as he made his way closer, he saw significantly more damage to it than the rest of the village. Spines littered the outside of the building and what looked like spikes of ice blocked the entrance, bits of the doors caught in the ice to suggest it was done purposely.

The first thing Hiccup did was try to get passed the ice by slipping through the small spaces, but when that failed, he tried to see through them. He could barely make out anything until he found a relatively decent space, but even that didn't offer him any real look into the place. Stepping away from the ice, Hiccup made his way around the building in search of a way inside. As luck would have it, there was a small hole on the side that was just big enough for him to squeeze through. For once in his life, being small was a blessing.

Kneeling down to peek through the hole to make sure it wasn't blocked by anything, Hiccup stuck his arm through to clear away anything that might be there to find it was an open route. He was quick to note that it was considerably cold inside the building. Hiccup looked around before remembering there was no one there to chastise him for his sneaking and laughed at himself. A feeling of discomfort settled over him as he realized how eerie that absence of people was in an old village. He shook the feeling off, though, and carefully slid into the hole.

Hiccup was about halfway through when he felt something scurry across his legs. He let out a shout, pulling himself in quickly before looking back at the hole. His heart raced as he waited for anything to come into view. After a few minutes of nothing, Hiccup worked up the courage to get closer and peek out; though, he made sure not to get too close. And, that decision ended up saving his head. Literally. It was quiet and still for a few moments before an arm that ended in a clawed hand-like extremity appeared out of nowhere, making its way further and further through the hole and forcing Hiccup to back away. It eventually stopped as it reached in as far as it could and he watched as it clawed at the stone ground to try and find him. That, accompanied by the angry snarls of a dragon, told him he was certainly not welcome.

He was admittedly terrified and in that moment, it didn't occur to him to call for Toothless.

The dragon continued to snarl and try to reach him with its claws for a few more moments before it went still, withdrawing its arm. Hiccup held his breath as an eye peeked in through the hole, staring directly into his own. There was another angry snarl as it saw him before it disappeared. Hiccup could hear it moving around on the other side of the wall and he stayed still until he heard thuds. The building began to shake and at the third thud, he realized the dragon was running into the wall. It was willing to break down the wall to get to him. His senses returned and Hiccup scurried over to the opposite wall, pressing himself against what felt like more ice, but he didn't pay it any mind.

"Toothless!!"

The thudding continued as the dragon outside continued to snarl and hiss, occasionally letting out a yelping sound as if signaling to others. For all he knew, it could've been. He began to panic more and more until finally, after what felt like an eternity, he heard the familiar sound of Toothless's hiss. When he heard the sounds of a struggle, Hiccup crawled back towards the hole, stopping briefly as the wall creaked and sounds climbed up it to the roof. The distinct sound of Toothless's plasma blasts let him know their fight had made it to the roof and Hiccup was further urged to get out of the building. He wasn't sure how long an old wooden building would withstand the weight of two battling dragons.

Hiccup slipped back through the hole, backing away from the building to find Toothless and the unknown dragon circling each other slowly. They were making sounds to each other, as if speaking, and Hiccup knew Toothless was trying to defuse the situation. He couldn't do anything but watch and hope he could get the other dragon to retreat or at least convince it to let them leave unharmed. It was among the most stressful minutes of his life. It only got worse as the unknown species of dragon seemed to completely reject Toothless's attempt to make peace, pouncing at him and landing on the Night Fury only to sink its fangs into his neck.

"Get off of him!" Hiccup yelled, picking up the nearest stone he could find and flinging it the best he could.

He didn't have a very good throw, of course, but his demand caught the dragon's attention. Upon seeing the human it had tried to kill was now out in the open, it released Toothless, jumping off him to slink its way off the roof to the ground. Close up, Hiccup could see it wasn't much bigger than a Nadder, though its body was slender and tail considerably longer. Long, spine-like scales covered its entire body, layering on top of each other to create an armor effect, and there was a distinct lack of wings. The entire body was white save for the bright blue eyes and grey-ish claws that tipped each of the five finger-like appendages on each hand while its feet only had three.

Hiccup backed into the wall of the great hall as the dragon moved closer to him, towering over him while giving angry clicks. It seemed to have completely forgotten about Toothless, but the Night Fury hadn't forgotten about it. As Hiccup flinched, curling into a standing fetal position when the dragon shot forward to attack, it was struck with a powerful plasma blast that had enough force to send even Hiccup flying. Toothless pounced from the roof, landing directly above the Viking and giving a final warning to leave them be in the form of a loud and intimidating roar. When the dragon didn't back off, instead returning Toothless's roar with it's own shrill and hiss-like call, Toothless decided he had had enough and lunged at the dragon, intent on killing it to protect Hiccup if he had to.

Their struggle sent them both crashing through the wall and into the great hall as Hiccup struggled to recover from the blast. He got to his feet slowly, finding his legs to be weak and his head spinning, but he limped his way to the opening the dragons created as Toothless released a pained snarl that sounded far too breathy for Hiccup's liking. Looking in, Hiccup was horrified to find Toothless on his back with the hind claws digging into the Night Fury's throat.

He had no idea what had come over him, but Hiccup picked up the first thing he could find and ran at the white dragon. He didn't get more than three steps in before he was knocked forward off his feet. Hiccup gasped when something pressed down on his head, keeping him in place, and he opened one eye to find a foot not too far from his face. A _human_ foot. He attempted to look up to see who had subdued him, but he couldn't. His head was under too much force to move and all he could make out by moving his eyes were the person's trousers.

"Hey!" Hiccup said, bringing his hand up to grab the ankle of the foot that was on his head. "Call off your dragon! We'll leave! Please, just don't hurt him!"

His plea went ignored, or at least that was what Hiccup thought, as the person stared down at him with eyes that matched the white dragon. Before long, they began to make sounds that mimicked the same noises Toothless and the other dragon had made. They were returned with the other dragon's own sounds before the dragon left, sprinting from the building and in the direction of the forest. Hiccup heard Toothless get to his feet, giving a hiss to the rider that had his on the ground. Unlike the dragon, its rider didn't seem to have much interest in fighting and removed their foot from Hiccup's head, letting him up and hurrying after his dragon. Hiccup looked to Toothless, resting his head against the Night Fury's own when he was nuzzled, relieved to hear the gentle purr of the dragon, before he looked back at the gaping hole in the wall.

What had just happened?


	3. Chapter 3

Hiccup slammed a fist onto the table a bit harder than he had intended, startling Toothless awake and earning a concerned rumble from the dragon. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair before giving a quiet apology to Toothless for waking him. He was just so frustrated. It had been hard enough to worry about Toothless's saddle and fin on Berk with all the sneaking he had to do in order to maintain it, but at least Gobber's forge had all the materials he needed. Hiccup was lucky to find enough usable metal in an abandoned forge to barely make two rods; five would be an impossible miracle. Not to mention any leather he could find was too corroded to even consider using.

"So much for leaving," Hiccup relented. "I guess we can make our own leather. Could always try seeing how sticks hold up as rods."

His speculation was met with an eye roll from Toothless that earned a bitter laugh from the Viking. He was right. Who was he kidding? The force alone from Toothless's speed would snap the sticks with ease, and that wasn't even considering how easy it would be to break them while adjusting the fin. Hiccup rested his head in his hands, elbows on the table, and let out a frustrated whine. After a couple minutes of sulking, Toothless bumped him with his wing and Hiccup looked up at the Night Fury. Toothless held one of the new rods in his mouth, looking like a dog wanting to play fetch. Hiccup laughed. He appreciated the dragon's effort to cheer him up.

"Thanks, bud," Hiccup said, laughing softly as Toothless butted his head to the rider's.

Hiccup pried the metal rod from Toothless as they headed outside. It was dark save for the light from the half moon, giving the village an infinitely more eerie air while simultaneously making it admittedly beautiful. It was morbid for sure, especially considering the "contents" of the great hall that came to Hiccup's mind, but it was true. Hiccup slowed to a stop as he looked towards the great hall, the ice blockade almost glowing in the light.

He jumped a bit when Toothless bumped him again with a curious hum. Hiccup shook his head.

"Nothing. I just...can't wrap my head around it, that's all."

His experience with dragons raids was limited, based solely on the raids he grew up with, but combining those experiences with what he knew of dragons through Toothless, Hiccup couldn't fathom why dragons would focus so much on the great hall and the children inside. He shivered as an image of what he'd seen flooded his mind, wishing he could purge the sight from his memory. No one needed to see a room of slaughtered kids, and Hiccup was probably the last person on that long list. He didn't have a very strong stomach, which was proven when he had gotten sick at the sight of it. He was going to be sick again and shook his head, forcing himself to push the memory aside.

He had other things to worry about. Such as where he and Toothless could play a few rounds of fetch. Hiccup and Toothless made their way towards the forest. It was the best area since the village was all cliffs. He might not be able to make all the rods, but Hiccup wasn't willing to lose the ones he had been able to make.

"Alright, Toothless, a couple rounds and then I need to get some sleep. Okay?"

Hiccup laughed at Toothless's eager wiggling, watching him run around in a circle before he threw the rod for the dragon. If only he had something reflective. Maybe he could get Toothless to chase the light. The black dragon returned from the bushes with the metal rod, now soaked in saliva, but Hiccup didn't really mind as he wrestled it from Toothless again. Why did dogs and dragons have to turn it into a fight? Hiccup would never understand, but even with that mildly annoying habit, he still threw the rod again and watched Toothless chase after it excitedly.

Their game continued for a few more tosses before Toothless suddenly turned aggressive after Hiccup threw the rod again, tensing and curling around the Viking with his wing partially covering him as if he expected fire. Hiccup didn't like that at all. Was the white dragon back? Toothless wouldn't be so aggressive without a reason to be. Would he?

Hiccup couldn't help but back up against the Night Fury, waiting with panicked breaths for the wingless dragon to attack. After a couple of moments of tense anticipation, the bushes rustled and the two flinched, Toothless reading a blast, before something small burst through the bushes. It was definitely the same kind of dragon, but clearly a baby. And, in its mouth was the metal rod. Hiccup and Toothless relaxed slightly at the sight. It wasn't until the baby dragon began moving towards them, wobbling from the weight of the rod as it tried to stay balanced, that Hiccup relaxed fully and let out a laugh. He was careful as he stepped over Toothless's tail and knelt with a hand out to greet the dragon.

"Hey, there," Hiccup said. "You want to play, too?"

Toothless let out an unsure whine, earning a look from Hiccup before he went back to the little dragon.

"Come on, Toothless. It's just a baby," he said, smiling a bit as the baby dragon dropped the rod in his hand and ran around excitedly like Toothless did. "Ha. You're cute, you know that?"

Hiccup looked at the rod in his hand and then back at the dragon. Maybe he should find a stick instead. The rod seemed too heavy for it and they didn't want it getting hurt playing with them. That would probably only make the white dragon even more aggressive towards them. Hiccup handed the rod to Toothless, giving him a scolding glare as the Night Fury began chewing it and acting unnecessarily possessive of it, before he went and snapped a stick from a nearby tree. The baby dragon looked confused, but when Hiccup waved the stick, it forgot its confusion and was back to being playful.

"This should be easier for you, little guy."

He threw the stick, though not nearly as hard as he had the rod, and watched in surprise as the baby dragon sprinted off. It was much faster than he thought it would be. He watched it jump from the bushes and grab the stick before it even lost momentum and started falling.

"Wow. You're...quick," Hiccup muttered as it returned. "Were you the one running around yesterday?"

He had found it hard to believe it was the other dragon that he had heard scurrying around or felt run over his legs. Besides, if it had been, Hiccup was certain it would've attacked him on sight. He laughed again at the squeak given by the baby dragon. Looked like it hadn't found its proper call yet. Hiccup thoughtlessly reached out to pet the dragon, but pulled his hand back when it snapped at him. It was friendly, but seemed to have the same deep-rooted dislike for him as its parent. So, no petting.

"Sorry. Habit, I guess. How about another round?" Hiccup asked as he stood.

Hiccup threw the stick again and just as before, the baby dragon sprinted after it. He watched, expecting it to jump up and grab it midair again. Instead, he and Toothless were alerted by the little dragon's squeak, this one pained and breathy. Hiccup rushed to the bushes, but was pounced on by Toothless. The dragon let out a hiss, standing over Hiccup as he had done with the white dragon. Hiccup didn't move, knowing full well that Toothless wouldn't let him, so instead he crawled forward enough to see out from under him. That did nothing, though, as instead of showing itself, whatever was in the bushes hurried off in the opposite direction.

"We have to--"

Toothless suddenly curled up more around his rider, tensing further as he turned, and Hiccup looked back. He curled up himself when a group of white dragons sprinted from the trees, but they were much more focused on whatever had taken the young one and didn't even seem to notice Hiccup and the battle-ready Night Fury. Hiccup crawled out from under Toothless as the last of the dragons disappeared into the forest and jumped onto the dragon. They couldn't fly, but Toothless was fast and his plasma blasts were strong. Maybe they could be of some use.

Thankfully, despite his obvious aggression towards the white dragons, Toothless was empathetic enough to put that aside and had the same idea as his rider. Toothless sprinted off after the white dragons, moving quickly but clearly not as quick as the others. He was built for speed in the air, not on the land; the white dragons, however, were.

"We need to get in the air, Toothless," Hiccup said as he looked around. "You can't fly, but you can glide and maybe that'll help us."

Hiccup saw a break in the trees and motioned for Toothless to take the opportunity to climb the taller of the trees. He held on tight to the dragon's nubs, wishing he hadn't taken off the saddle, as Toothless climbed his way to the top of the tree. The two looked around until they spotted the group of white dragons through the leaves and Hiccup flattened himself against Toothless's back as the Night Fury lunged from the tree and glided, catching up to the others easily. Hiccup kept an eye on them for Toothless so he could focus on staying airborne for as long as he could, though he began to gradually descend soon enough. When he saw the edge of the forest, Hiccup sat up.

"Whatever it is, it's heading straight for the edge of the island. We can cut it off there."

Toothless tucked his wings in and dove for the space of clear land between the forest and the cliff edge, landing with a clumsy skip. The two looked back into the trees, barely able to make out the white dragons along with something silver. Hiccup leaned down so his head was centered above Toothless's, gauging where the silver creature was before quietly pointing in the direction he needed to focus on and patting the side of Toothless's neck. He fired off a quick plasma blast; it wasn't very strong, but it would be enough to trip the creature up if it hit and that would give the dragons the opportunity to catch it.

Or, at least, that was the plan. Their target apparently had moved out of the way and the blast instead sent one of the white dragons to the ground. Hiccup cringed, as did Toothless, and the annoyed trills from the white dragons were enough to tell them their effort was not appreciated. Which was fair. Hiccup nearly fell off Toothless when he hurried to cut off the silver creature, standing defensively between it and the cliff. It was quiet save for the trills of the white dragons and the sound of the chase, and Hiccup held his breath as Toothless readied another blast. After a few seconds, the silver mass erupted from the trees, jumping over the two with ease and flying towards the cliff to get away.

Hiccup didn't think. He saw the baby dragon held in the silver dragon's jaw and just acted, jumping off of Toothless and followed the predator as fast as his legs would let him. Toothless let out a shout as Hiccup jumped, reaching for the dragon's tail as it flew over the cliff. His hand grabbed air and then he was falling. Hiccup could barely get a scream out before his vest was yanked and Toothless clung to the edge of the cliff, breathing heavily in adrenaline and panic. Hiccup let out a relieved sigh before looking toward the silver dragon. Toothless could easily knock it out of the air with a blast now, but there was no way to get the baby dragon after he did and he was busy keeping his rider from falling to his death to even consider it.

Yelping caught his attention and Hiccup looked up to see the group of white dragons lining the cliff edge. It was the same sound the dragon Toothless fought made. They continued with their call as Toothless pulled Hiccup to safety, tucking his reckless rider behind his tail as if to tell him he was never allowed to do that again.

"Thanks, bud."

Hiccup let out a quiet sound of disgust as Toothless licked him, leaving behind a scent of fish and a sloppy mess of saliva in his hair. Their moment was interrupted by the silencing of the dragons' call and as the two looked over at the group to see them now staring intently at the silver dragon that was getting further and further away. The sound of feet on grass alerted them to something else nearby. Toothless suddenly snarled and Hiccup looked up to see, for the second time, a pair of pale feet and the same trousers from before as the unnamed rider jumped off of Toothless's head, having used him as a ramp.

Neither of them could really react and Hiccup could only watch in surprise and interest as the blue-eyed rider began to morph in front of him. Time seemed to slow as Hiccup watched the other's body change, his clothes tearing as pale skin turned to silvery-white fur and feet turned to deadly talons. Wings grew from his sides, merging with his arms as his fingers turned to claws. Before he knew it, the rider had been replaced by something that looked to be neither human nor dragon and Hiccup was fascinated as he watched the creature fly after the silver dragon with enough speed and force to rival even Toothless. Whatever happened between the shape-shifting being and the silver dragon was too far for Hiccup to see. He had wanted to stay to witness the return of the other, but the white dragons soon began to grow aggressive towards him and Toothless. They decided to retreat to the village again, but Hiccup already knew it wouldn't be the last he saw of the shape-shifter.


	4. Chapter 4

Skittish.

That was the best word Hiccup had to describe the shape-shifter. It had been almost two weeks since the incident with the silver dragon and throughout those days, he'd encountered the shape-shifter several times; but, never face-to-face. It started out as occasionally catching a glimpse of him before he disappeared, which prompted Hiccup to be a bit more observant to his surroundings. When he did that, he began to see him more and more. First it was in the forest where he and Toothless would gather firewood and find food. The occasional sight of him sitting in a branch looking at him or hiding in the bushes. Then he started seeing him in the village, crouching on the roofs, ducking out of sight when Hiccup would notice him. He seemed as curious about Hiccup as Hiccup was about him.

But, he never came close.

He stayed at a distance, just observing him and Toothless. Sometimes Hiccup would catch him smiling at the antics between rider and dragon or outright laughing. Hiccup had tried to use those moments to try and get closer to him, but he didn't let that happen. He always left. Soon enough, Hiccup stopped trying to approach him and instead thought he should let the shape-shifter come to him. He intentionally went out of his way to seem inviting, being more affectionate and playful with Toothless than he normally was, but it didn't work. Hiccup didn't even get the feeling that his fear was personal to the young Viking. He wasn't scared of Hiccup specifically; he was scared of people.

Which was fair. People were horrible, and Hiccup had no idea what kind of things the shifter may have experienced because of them. So, he was patient. He was considerate of his fear. Hiccup went through each day as he would regularly, working to repair Toothless's fin by scrounging up whatever usable metal he could find to forge new rods and making his own leather. A process that took a ridiculously long time due to the abundance of rusted metal that was either too rusted to work with or needed to be repaired for proper use. Something that was not easy to do at a forge that was only partially functional.

"Alright. I think that should about do it," Hiccup mused as he folded the new fin a few times to test the leather. "We'll have to be careful. I don't know how sturdy the new rods are, but they should hold for a while as long as we don't do anything crazy."

Toothless's huff earned an eye roll from Hiccup. He picked the fin up off the table and laughed as Toothless rushed outside, jumping excitedly at the prospect of flying again. Not that he could blame the dragon; Hiccup missed flying, too. He set the fin down on the saddle and gathered the rest of the gear before heading out, laughing more as Toothless sat down to Hiccup could fit the new fin. He laughed because even though Toothless was ready for the fin, he was wiggling like mad in anticipation.

"Calm down, bud."

Hiccup set the gear down and focused first on the fin. If not for the benefit of making the saddling process easier, then for Toothless's sake. As he buckled the fin onto Toothless's tail, Hiccup heard humming and looked up. The shifter was back, this time kneeling on the roof of the forge; the closest he'd ever been. Hiccup became distracted as he studied the shifter, temporarily forgetting about the fin and saddle. He hadn't ever gotten a clear look at the other before.

He was young, maybe a couple years older than Hiccup, and aside from his snow white hair and the deathly pale complexion of his skin, he looked like anyone you could find in a Viking village. He even wore a cloak, though it was a bit tattered and he didn't remember seeing it before, and Hiccup noticed there was a crook in his hands. His blue eyes were fixated on Toothless, focused mostly on the fin, in what was likely curiosity. Hiccup stood and took a step towards him, expecting him to run off like he always did, but was pleasantly surprised when all he did was flinch and turn his gaze to him instead. He looked ready to run at the slightest provocation, though, and Hiccup took a step back and held his hands up in surrender to coax the shifter out of his fearful state.

"It's alright. I don't want to hurt you," Hiccup reassured quietly, moving so that he was standing on the opposite side of Toothless. "I promise."

That seemed to relax the shifter enough to where he wasn't ready to disappear and Hiccup gave a smile. That was progress. Toothless, however, didn't much care about the shifter or his rider's attempts to befriend it; all he wanted was to fly. The dragon gave an irritated rumble and brought his tail up to block Hiccup's view.

"Yes, thank you for the reminder, Mister Impatient," Hiccup huffed, earning a gentle smack with the tail. "Did anyone ever teach you that you shouldn't bite the hand of the person that feeds you?"

Or, in Toothless's case, smack the face of the one that _ literally let you fly_. Hiccup saddled Toothless and attached the control gear, testing the gear to make sure it all still worked. With that done, Hiccup gave a satisfied smile before he looked back at the shifter. He was gone. Hiccup slumped. They'd made such wonderful progress, too. Another grumble from Toothless was enough to get Hiccup to focus on him again and he mounted, clicking the safety harness to the saddle. He would just have to work on the shifter later.

It was time to fly.

Toothless looked back at him with a look that asked if he was ready and Hiccup nodded as he shifted the fin into position. Hiccup held onto the saddle as Toothless readied himself for take off, stretching his wings and fin a few times before he darted forward and out of the village, diving off the cliff with a loud and pleased trill. Hiccup laughed and shifted the false fin so they could straighten and ascend before they plummeted into the water. It was such a refreshing feeling being in the air again and as they ascended higher and higher, Hiccup could only feel relief.

It was easy to get lost in the feeling of disconnect as the island and even the sea disappeared behind the clouds. For a time, Hiccup's mind let go of everything that had seemed to weigh him down. He completely forgot about his disownment and the uncertainty of whether or not he would ever return home, or find another, and the morbid mystery of the village became a distant memory. It was just him and Toothless, and they were _ free_. Nothing else mattered to them in that moment but the feeling of elation and freedom that came with being among the clouds, separated from the troubles below them. As Toothless settled on a leisurely pace to just let them enjoy their return to the air, Hiccup relaxed and closed his eyes. He just wanted to feel; wanted to pretend, even for a time, that he was a cloud or the wind that traveled across the earth, unburdened by everything.

A trill snapped Hiccup out of his trance. He knew it wasn't Toothless's; Hiccup could identify the majority of Toothless's sounds. Looking around, he found nothing and leaned down to flatten against Toothless defensively. He didn't know how well other dragons would take to seeing a human riding one of their own and if he could appear invisible, maybe they could avoid trouble. Toothless suddenly hissed, his head turning so that he was glaring behind them. Hiccup followed his gaze and jumped so hard that, for a moment, his foot slipped off the gear and sent the two spiraling down. He quickly regained control, though it was a bit rough as Toothless steadied himself.

Hiccup sat up and looked up, this time prepared to see the shifter hovering above them. He wasn't in his dragon form; he was human, clothes and crook all there. Maybe that was what startled him so much.

"Uh....Hello."

The shifter trilled and Hiccup realized he was the one that interrupted his trance. The youth couldn't even be that upset because he was more surprised the shifter was following him. He patted the base of Toothless's neck to calm him down, silently asking him to endure the shifter's presence. And, thankfully, Toothless relented as the shifter slowed so that he was above the Night Fury's tail, looking at the fins curiously.

"He can't fly without them," he explained, though he wasn't even sure if the shifter could understand him that well. "He lost his other fin in a...trap."

It wasn't a _ complete _ lie, and the shifter didn't seem interested in where the trap came from. He was more focused on looking at the mechanism, flying alongside Toothless to examine it as if trying to figure out how it worked. Hiccup stayed quiet, looking between Toothless and the shifter, before changing the fin's position so they could ascend, doing a spin as they did so. The shifter followed and Hiccup watched with a slight grin as the shifter settled above them again.

"...Can you...understand me?" Hiccup asked. When he received another trill, he took that as a yes. "Great! Uh. This is Toothless. I'm Hiccup."

He had no idea what to say. He didn't even know if the shifter wanted him to talk or stay quiet. He hadn't cared much so far for the former, but Hiccup didn't know if he would be pushing his luck if he kept it up.

"Jokul."

Hiccup perked at the voice and he looked up at the shifter.

"...Jokul?"

"My name. It's Jokul," the shifter said.

"You can talk!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Did you think I couldn't?" Jokul asked, tone completely curious and not at all offended. Hiccup still turned red and looked away. That earned a laugh from Jokul. "It's been a while since I've seen another human, so I never have a reason to, but yeah. I can talk."

Well, clearly Jokul lived with dragons, so Hiccup could understand why he didn't talk much. But, he was talking now. If getting to see him up close was considered progress, what did Hiccup call that? Hiccup looked ahead, staying quiet as he didn't know what to say. After a few minutes, it had gotten a bit awkward for Hiccup's comfort and he decided he had to say something. Not to mention it was just pathetic.

"The silver dragon," Hiccup said, looking back up at Jokul who honestly didn't seem bothered at all by the silence. "What happened with it?"

Hiccup regretted asking about it when he saw the more or less neutrally content look on Jokul's face fade into a frown. It wasn't a good sign. And, when Jokul turned and darted back toward the island, Hiccup knew he had really messed up what could've been a great chance to learn more about the shifter. The gods really did hate him. Hiccup forced Toothless to turn around and chase after Jokul, catching up with him fairly easily.

"I'm sorry!" Hiccup yelled over the wind. "I didn't mean to upset you!"

Jokul either didn't hear him or didn't care much for his apology and dove into a dense patch of forest that Toothless couldn't follow him into. They flew over the forest, Hiccup scanning through the leaves hoping to find Jokul, but after two or three minutes of nothing, he knew the shifter was gone. Hiccup let out a frustrated yell as they turned and headed back for the village. Why did everything he did go so wrong? Was he just that bad at..._existing_?


	5. Chapter 5

People were never one of Hiccup's specialties. He was bad with them. He couldn't hold a decent conversation with them, not even with Astrid, and he certainly had no luck relating to them. Hel, he clearly couldn't even _ live _ with them. As Hiccup stared irritably at the sketch in his journal, he was realizing quickly that he couldn't even draw them. With an annoyed sigh, he ripped the page from his journal and crumpled it. He tossed the crumpled paper across the room as he closed the journal to tuck it safely in his vest again before leaning back to rest against Toothless. Hiccup brought his arms up to rest behind his head as he stared out at the moon through the window.

It had been three days since he saw Jokul, and he hadn't seen even a glimpse of him since. Asking about the silver dragon had been a big mistake and Hiccup wished he could go back to stop himself from bringing it up. He wasn't even able to make it right due to Jokul avoiding him.

"I have got to be the most unlucky person in the world," Hiccup whispered to himself as he turned on his side.

"Well, at least you're still human."

Hiccup's eyes shot open and he sat up, looking at the window where he figured Jokul would be. He flinched a bit when something hit his head and he looked down to see the crumpled piece of paper in his lap. He froze for a few seconds as he looked up to find Jokul standing at the top of the stairs leading to the loft, looking around the room. The moon let in just enough light for Hiccup to see a look of...something reminiscent of painful nostalgia in his expression.

"Jokul."

"I was hoping I wouldn't wake you," Jokul said as he moved quietly across the room to sit on an old desk. It only took Hiccup a couple seconds to realize he was so quiet because he wasn't actually walking. "...You said you would leave if I told Frostfang to not hurt Toothless."

Frostfang. That had to be the name of the dragon that had fought with Toothless. Hiccup looked at Jokul, again seeing he was curious rather than upset, and the Viking sighed as he brought his knees up to his chest.

"I had to fix Toothless's fin," Hiccup defended, though he knew they both knew it was a poor excuse now.

"But, you're still here."

"Do you want me gone?"

Jokul was quiet as he mimicked Hiccup's position, arms wrapped around his knees with his crook rolling softly beneath his feet. Hiccup noticed his hair was covered by the hood of his cloak. It was quiet between them for a few minutes, the only sound being Toothless's soft snoring and the occasional sound of his scales against the wood as he adjusted himself to be comfortable.

"...Toothless and I don't have anywhere to go," Hiccup confessed.

"Exile?"

"I might be," Hiccup said, laughing a bit at the confused look he received. "I ran away before they had a chance, but I'm sure Da--the chief would've exiled me anyway. They didn't take too kindly to Toothless."

A look flashed across Jokul's face and the shifter curled up further as if Hiccup's words triggered a bad memory. The youth had half a mind to get up and make sure he was alright, but from experience, Jokul didn't like to be approached.

"...Is something wrong?" Hiccup asked.

"It's nothing," Jokul said a bit too quickly and defensively. "If you two don't have a place to go, I guess it's fine if you stay. Just don't cause trouble with the flock again."

"I won't," Hiccup promised before his brows furrowed. "Again?"

Jokul looked at him and shook his head, pulling something from his cloak and tossing it to him. Hiccup caught it clumsily and looked at it, realizing it was a stick. He was confused before he saw the small teeth marks in it. The stick he and the baby dragon played fetch with.

"Wait. Are you blaming us for what happened?" His tone was a bit more aggressive than he would've liked.

"I'm not. It's not the first time we've lost hatchlings to predators. But, the flock is. They say they could've saved her if Toothless hadn't knocked one of them down," Jokul said.

"He was trying to help," the brunette argued.

"It wasn't your place," Jokul countered. "The flock and I can take care of ourselves. As long as you remember and respect that, you can stay."

Hiccup watched Jokul get off the desk and glide back over to the stairs, his hands in tight fists and he didn't realize it until the stick snapped in half in his quiet rage. Jokul stopped and looked back at him, their eyes meeting for a brief second before he looked away.

"...Thank you." The words caught Hiccup off guard and he forgot his anger as he looked at the other. "I know you two tried to help, and I'm grateful for the effort. I'll tell the flock you two are staying and have been warned to stay out of our problems. They shouldn't bother you."

Jokul hurried down the stairs and Hiccup followed, not sure if he wanted to talk more or ask if there was a possibility of them talking again; it was probably both. As he made it halfway down the stairs, he stopped when he saw Jokul standing in the center of the room holding something. Hiccup struggled to see what it was, but after a second or two, Jokul dropped the object and left. He was long gone before Hiccup could even make it off the stairs, so he didn't bother trying to follow him. Instead, he walked over to where he had been before and knelt, picking up the thing Jokul had dropped.

It was a toy. A doll. Old and worn, and lacking any defining details, but as Hiccup examined it further, he found a pocket in the back. At first he thought it was a tear, but as he moved the doll in his hands, a small piece of rolled up paper fell out of the pocket and into his hand. It was in relatively decent condition, if not a bit brittle. Hiccup set the doll on the table before carefully unfurling that paper to see faded letters written on it that were hard to make out even with the light from the hearth fire. But, he persisted and could soon decipher some of the text.

"'I hope...comes...soon'?" Hiccup whispered to himself, raising the paper a bit higher as if that would magically make the words reappear. "Sounds like a wish."

Hiccup remembered doing something similar with the toy his mother had made for him. He wrote on some paper that he wished he grew up strong like Stoick. A part of him wanted to ridicule the idea that a toy could grant your wish, but at the same time, whoever owned the toy was probably a little kid. He didn't have the heart to taunt them. He wondered if the doll had some significance to Jokul. Why else would he go out of his way to look at it the way he had?

A purr startled him and he looked up to see Toothless looking down at him from the loft, head tilted in curiosity and concern.

"I'm alright, Toothless. I was just...looking around," Hiccup said as he rolled the paper up and carefully put it back in the doll. "How about you and I do some work on the forge tomorrow? We might be staying here for a while, so we might as well make it livable."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's worth noting here that, yes, the dialogue is wordy and doesn't rely at all on contractions. So, it might be a bit annoying. But, it's not without reason. Dragons are incapable of shortening words. They don't have a way to relay contractions, and attempting to say something like "don't" and "Jokul's" results in something similar to when people trail off into a jumbled mess of noises when they fail to say a word right. If something can't be said without the use of an apostrophe, dragons simply won't say it.

"They are still here."

"I gave them permission to stay," Jokul explained as he tossed a ball of snow between his hands. "They have promised to not get involved with us."

"I do not care. It is their fault my hatchling was snatched. They must be removed," Icecrawler hissed, growing a bit too bold with her demands for Jokul's liking.

"I was the one that failed to kill the Razorwhip. If you are going to blame it on anyone, Icecrawler, then you will blame it on me."

"No. My mate was shot down by the black one. He was mere inches from--"

"Enough!" Jokul stopped tossing his ball and watched as Frostfang stalked forward to stand between his sister and their alpha. "The orders of the alpha are absolute. You will not defy them. If he has given them his blessing to stay, then they stay."

"I will not allow those murderers to roam freely!"

Frostfang snarled, pouncing at Icecrawler and Jokul sighed as the two fought. But, he didn't interfere as it wasn't their way. Disputes had to be settled between those who were unhappy with one another, and Jokul was only able to interfere when the fight showed signs of escalating into a death match. So, he got up and left them to it, trusting the onlookers to alert him if the argument shifted. Instead, he decided to pay a visit to Snowfire. Jokul glided off the platform, heading deeper into the cavern. He grunted when a hatchling jumped onto his shoulder to accompany him, smiling softly and nuzzling against the hatchling's scales. They were soft, unlike the scales of an adult, so it wasn't uncomfortable to do so.

As the deepest cavern came into view, Jokul felt a pain in his chest. It was always like that. Whenever he visited her, he was reminded of what she did for him and the pain tugged at him. But, he endured it. Landing carefully on the ground, Jokul set his crook down before heading into the icy chamber. He never took it in with him, feeling it to be disrespectful to those that rested there to do so. Weapons had no place in such a sacred place, no matter how unorthodox the weapon was.

"Alpha sad?"

"Not sad. Confused," Jokul said as he let the hatchling crawl to the top of his head. "...Maybe a little sad."

"Alpha misses mate?"

"I do. I miss Snowfire deeply."

Jokul stepped into the chamber, eyeing the many "coffins" that lined the dome of the chamber. Tombs where the skulls of the dead were stored to memorialize them. He passed through the outer chamber and descended deeper into the inner chamber where the alphas were kept. He made his way to Snowfire's skull, sitting in front of it as the hatchling scurried to curl on his lap.

He looked up at the massive skull to reflect on the past two weeks. When he had first seen Hiccup charge at Frostfang with the rusted sword, he knew he should've killed him then and there. And, Jokul was going to. But, he saw the Night Fury and in his confusion, chose to subdue the other instead. He wanted answers. Wanted to know why the Viking was there, and what the black dragon wanted. He hadn't expected Hiccup to plead for Toothless's life; it struck something in him. Jokul didn't think he would ever meet another human that had bonded with a dragon.

That was why he was being so lenient with Hiccup.

He was...curious. He wanted to see the bond between the two. So, he had watched them. They weren't much different than him and Snowfire, though his mate had been old and dignified. Toothless was still young, not even mature enough to seek a partner of his own. So, they were the same whereas Jokul and Snowfire had been opposites that just happened to clash well. It had been fun to watch them bicker with each other and play and nap in the forest; Toothless had very much adopted Hiccup as his brother. He didn't mind them being there at all, even after the incident with the Razorwhip and Icecrawler's hatchling. And, his word was law; none of the dragons would go against him.

But, that didn't mean they had to like it and Jokul knew he was the severe minority on the tolerance. He'd lived so long as a dragon that he had forgotten what it was like to be around other humans, and he felt the deep desperation for that connection as he watched Hiccup, but he had a responsibility as an alpha to put his flock first. They came before him. They came before everything.

"Snowfire, I do not know what to do. How did you do it? How did you balance me and your duties as an alpha?"

Jokul shook his head and sighed. He knew the answer to that. Before the fight with his village, the Armorhides had been neutral towards humans. They shared the island with them, but rarely interacted. It was only after the people of Burgess killed the hatchling and invaded the caverns, killing both him and Snowfire, that their deep-seeded hatred for humans set in. Jokul was the only one spared from that hate, but that could be due to no longer being human himself. Or, because he had been chosen by Snowfire as a worthy mate. Regardless, she didn't have to choose between him and the flock because he had been a part of it from the beginning. Jokul, however, didn't have that privilege. Hiccup had come after three centuries of hate towards humans and the default opinion of him was that he was the enemy. Despite the proof that he was a friend of dragons and despite how he had only ever tried to hurt them to protect Toothless, something they could all understand, the flock hated him and wanted him gone. Wanted their alpha to do as he was supposed to and put them first.

"Alpha."

Jokul looked behind him to see Frostfang. The dragon approached him, pressing his snout against Jokul's cheek in greeting.

"Have you and Icecrawler settled your argument?"

"She has accepted your rule, Alpha, but I fear she will continue to hate them," the dragon informed.

That was to be expected. A mother's grief was the same regardless of what they were. Humans and dragons mourned their young the same. Jokul could live with that. Frostfang laid down, curling himself around Jokul and letting out a content purr as the lycanwing idly pet his head.

"...Do you think I should send them away, Frostfang?"

The Armorhide was his most loyal subject. He had appointed himself as Jokul's second-in-command, something he never felt the need to correct, and he thought highly of the dragon's opinion. Frostfang looked up at him with one eye before looking away.

"I hate humans for what they did to you and your mate."

Jokul looked away, letting out a quiet sigh. The honesty of a dragon could be painful sometimes.

"They should perish. Every one of them. And, the dragons that love them should follow for they are traitors."

The lycanwing's heart hurt at the words.

"...We see that you do not feel the same way. You do not hate them, and you crave their companionship."

"You are saying they should stay?" Jokul asked as he looked back at Frostfang.

"You have looked after our flock for a very long time, sacrificing yourself in more ways than one to protect and provide for us. You have the scars to prove it. And, we have grown selfish for that devotion. We desire you to love only us. However, that is wrong for you are not like us. You, Alpha, are both a dragon and a human. To deny you the bonds you need would be cruel."

The confession surprised Jokul and all he could manage was a pathetic, "I see."

"...We miss how you once were, Alpha."

"How I once was?"

"There was a time where you would sing and dance and play as if you were a hatchling seeing the forest for the first time. You would seek knowledge to satisfy an endless curiosity, and pester our elders with your mischief even when they would chastise you for it. You once brought so much joy and life to our flock. But, you have lost that in your efforts to make what happened right," Frostfang crooned lovingly, moving to rest his head on Jokul's lap. "If this human can bring that back, then I and many others will tolerate and defend him. For he is good for you."

Frostfang's words cut into him in a way Jokul couldn't understand. There was a warmth in his chest and, for a moment, he thought he heard the familiar sound of Snowfire's purr from somewhere deep in his heart. He hadn't realized his eyes were closed or that he had tears running down his face until he felt the hatchling press his nose against his cheek as if to try and dry them.

"Alpha cry. Sad?"

"No, little one, I am not sad," Jokul assured. "I am happy."


	7. Chapter 7

Hiccup emerged from the water, pushing his hair back and wiping the warm water from his face. He was unbelievably sore, and respected Gobber a whole lot more now that he understood how much maintenance went into keeping a smith up and running. And, he was sore from a day's work with his body intact and a dragon to help him out. Hiccup couldn't imagine what it was like for Gobber.

As Hiccup let the spring relax the muscles in his back, he heard Toothless moving around behind him and turned quickly to find he had his vest in his mouth.

"Really, Toothless? My vest?" Hiccup asked. He was probably more irritable while he was sore, but the Fury didn't care. "Put it down."

A taunting series of laugh-like rumbles and Hiccup glared as Toothless started getting playful. Now wasn't the best time. Hiccup was too tired.

"Toothless," he warned sternly only to receive defiance as Toothless started strutting around as if trying to goad him into a game. "I'm not going to play right now, Toothless. Give me back my vest."

His answer was no. Toothless walked off, head high as he baited Hiccup with the vest. He groaned, intent on just ignoring the playful dragon, but he gave in quickly because he was worried how Toothless would treat the vest in retaliation. He was a vengeful bastard at times. Getting out of the spring, Hiccup walked over to Toothless and held his arm out, looking at the Night Fury firmly. Toothless glared at him before he dropped the vest on Hiccup's arm and walked off, clearly annoyed with his rider's attitude.

"Brat," Hiccup muttered under his breath.

"He's still a hatchling. Don't be too hard on him."

"Gods!" Hiccup turned to find Jokul watching him from a rock on the other side of the spring, balanced on his crook that was glued to the stone with a thick layer of ice. "I might have to get you a bell or something if you're just going to keep sneaking up on me."

"It wouldn't be sneaking then," Jokul laughed.

"...That's kind of the point."

Hiccup watched as Jokul jumped down from his crook, breaking it free of the ice with ease as he glided over the spring to approach him. He wanted to hold his breath as if he was dealing with a wild animal because Jokul hadn't approached him before. At least, not with the intent of being near him. So far, Jokul's approaches were still pretty distant. Even when they had flown together. Hiccup flinched when Jokul suddenly lifted his chin, running a cold digit over the scar on his chin as he looked at it curiously. He got uncomfortably close in order to look at it and Hiccup became acutely aware of the fact that he was still nude. The youth rushed to cover himself with his vest, his face turning red as he took a few steps back. Jokul looked surprised before a realization seemed to hit him, causing him to chuckle.

"I don't think you need to worry much about modesty, Hiccup," Jokul stated.

Hiccup knew he was in a bad mood at the moment. He'd been irritable since he woke up for no reason and the soreness from his first real experience with hard labor had only made him more easy to annoy or offend. And, Jokul had lived with dragons for Gods only knew how long, so his social behavior was undoubtedly a lot different than Hiccup's. Those two points should've been enough to convince Hiccup not to take too much offense to what the other said. But, he did and crossed his arms, rolling his eyes in resentment.

"Shut up. Bet you're not much better," he huffed.

It was quiet for a few seconds before a sly grin crossed Jokul's face that immediately had Hiccup regretting his words.

"Oh, yeah? How much you willing to bet on that?" Jokul challenged.

"Uh--"

"I can promise you you'll lose, so think carefully," the shifter warned.

"Can we forget I ever said anything?" he asked.

Jokul laughed then, each intake of breath taking him higher off the ground.

"Relax, Hiccup. I meant you don't have to worry about modesty with me," Jokul said. "It's not really important to dragons."

"...If you don't care about it, why are you wearing clothes?" Hiccup asked. "Where do you even get them?"

Jokul shrugged, clearly not going to answer as he let himself collapse to sit on the ground. At least he hadn't run off again. Hiccup joined him, making sure to keep himself covered. Because now he was feeling insecure.

"So, what brings you here? I didn't think I'd see you again after last night."

"I probably wouldn't have come back, but Frostfang convinced me I needed to keep an eye on you two," Jokul explained.

"Frostfang...convinced you," he mused before scratching his neck. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You keep saying the dragons say things to you. How do you know what they're saying? Do you just, you know, pay attention to their tones and the context of the situation like I do?" Hiccup asked.

"...You haven't figured it out yet," Jokul said with a smile.

"What? Figured what out?"

Jokul suddenly let out a series of trills and clicks, leaning back once he had finished his tirade of noises. Hiccup looked at him as he tapped his hands to his knees. He waiting for Jokul to say something. When he didn't, Hiccup sighed. It was a game to him, wasn't it?

"What did I say?" Jokul asked.

"...You didn't say anything. You just made dragon sounds," Hiccup said.

"That's what you heard," the other teased before he stood. "The sounds are words, Hiccup. Humans just don't understand them the way dragons do. Did you think Toothless's sounds were just random noises he made?"

"No, not really. I just...figured he was responding to me in a way I could understand."

Jokul smiled again, looking a bit nostalgic, before he sat on his toes and looked at him.

"Dragons are as complicated as people. They have their own traditions, societal rules, and even their own language. I'm guessing you've never seen two dragons speaking with each other," Jokul guessed. Correctly.

"...Can I learn how to speak it?" Hiccup asked.

"You would probably be able to mimic some words, but it would be impossible for you to be able to make all the noises. Humans aren't capable of it," the other explained, his words making Hiccup slump. That was disappointing. "But, you could learn to understand it."

"I can already understand it well enough," Hiccup argued. Why was he so _ defensive_?

"Yeah. When you're the one talking to him."

Hiccup raised a brow as Jokul stood, walking over to Toothless. The dragon eyed Jokul wearily, moving so that he was never out of sight, but his nubs perked as Jokul began speaking to him in the dragon language. Before long, the two were having a full conversation complete with laughs. Hiccup didn't understand it at all and he rolled his eyes as he realized Jokul had made his point. He could understand Toothless in situations he understood, such as when he was responding to him or what he had done with Frostfang. Those were pretty obvious and the cues were easy to pick up.

But, if he were to stumble across Toothless, or any other dragon, having a conversation with another, he wouldn't know what was being said at all. Hiccup was a bit upset with himself for not realizing the sounds were more than that. Looking back, it wasn't even that hard to see.

"Okay, okay. I get it," Hiccup relented. "You can teach me to understand it?"

"Of course. I mean, I don't know if you'll ever understand them like I do, but you won't need to rely on context clues and tones anymore," Jokul said.

"Like you do?"

"I don't hear the sounds anymore. When the dragons talk to me, or I talk to them in their language, I just hear the words. It took me a long time to learn it like that even through constant exposure," Jokul explained.

"...How long is a long time?"

Jokul shrugged again, but it wasn't the same dismissive shrug as before. He wasn't refusing to answer; he just didn't have the right answer to give. Hiccup knew that one better than a person probably should. The two looked over when Toothless suddenly approached them, saying something that Hiccup couldn't understand.

"What did he say?" Hiccup asked as he rested a hand on the dragon's head.

"He asked how I was going to teach you," the shifter said as he became frustrated.

"Oh. Uh....I guess that's a question."

"And, the answer," Jokul said as he crossed his arms and brought his legs up to sit cross-legged, hovering perfectly over the ground in his usual fashion, "is currently not coming to me. But, I'll figure it out."

Hiccup laughed a bit and the act earned a look from the other.

"Sorry. I just forgot what you said about not seeing another person in a long time. So, you not knowing how to teach someone shouldn't have been a surprise to me," he said. "Guess we can figure it out together then."

"...Guess that means we'll be seeing a lot of each other, huh?" he asked, sounding excited about it himself.

"Seems like it."

Hiccup straightened and looked over when the bushes rustled, watching as one of Jokul's dragons - Frostfang, if the damage to his scales was any indication - emerged from the trees. He and Toothless shared a look and though they seemed to keep the hostility low, Toothless still curled his tail around Hiccup to separate him and the other dragon. He hoped their aggressiveness would fade eventually. Hiccup didn't like all the tension. Frostfang turned his attention to Jokul and the two had a short exchange of words before the shifter looked back at Hiccup.

"There's something I need to deal with back at the nest."

"Thought so. Are all our conversations going to be this short?" Hiccup asked.

Jokul dismissed his partial complaint with a light-hearted wave of his hand before Frostfang sprinted off, likely to their nest.

"Jokul," Hiccup called before he could disappear into the trees after the dragon, earning his attention. "...If they'll listen, tell the dragons Toothless and I are sorry for what happened with the tiny tooth. You're right; it wasn't our place to step in. We just...thought we had to do something to try. She wouldn't have been there if we hadn't been playing."

The shifter smiled a bit and nodded before he was gone, swiftly chasing after Frostfang and leaving Hiccup at the spring.


	8. Chapter 8

Hiccup had to be honest with himself. He wasn't all that comfortable being blindfolded with Jokul around. It wasn't that he thought the other was malicious; he was just not sure what to think of him yet. Not an enemy, but also not someone Hiccup could consider a friend just yet. He was cautious. And, that distracted him from his and Toothless's chattering. Instead of listening like he was supposed to, Hiccup had slipped out of focus more than once. Hiccup pinched his earlobe between his thumb and forefinger, irritated with himself for being so distracted by something as trivial as being blindfolded.

When the chattering ceased, Hiccup lifted the cloth off of his eyes slightly to find Toothless and Jokul lounging idly while they waited for him. They'd become fast friends pretty quickly and Hiccup suspected it was because of their conversations. He could admit Jokul had a way of seeming lazy and approachable. Toothless must find that inviting.

"So?" Jokul asked.

"Uh," he hesitated, pulling the blindfold off completely and setting it in his lap. "I...think you asked Toothless something he didn't like at one point because he growled at you, and I'm pretty sure he didn't answer."

"I did," he said with a proud grin. "Do you know what I asked him?"

"No. What was it?"

"It'd defeat the purpose if I told you," Jokul teased, letting himself fall to his side. "But, now I have a question for you."

Hiccup perked at the other's curiosity, his go ahead a silent one as he leaned forward. He was just happy they were able to talk and ask questions without getting offended. Probably because the both of them had, somehow, mutually and silently agreed to ask if they could pry instead of just doing it like Hiccup had when he asked about the silver dragon.

"Where did you get the scar on your chin?"

"A dragon," Hiccup said.

"Thought so. What kind? Toothless?" Jokul asked, head tilted.

"No, it wasn't from Toothless. I don't know what kind it was. I was just a baby when I got it. All I really know is that it was the dragon that took my mom, and that's only because Stoick never let me forget it. 'Dragons are bloodthirsty and thoughtless monsters, son. Never forget that'," Hiccup mimicked, deep voice and all, before he gave a bitter laugh. "Can't say I really blame him for being angry I sided with Toothless. 'The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself'. Must be a sick joke to him or something."

Toothless chuffed and rolled his eyes before flopping onto his side, looking at Hiccup with his big puppy eyes.

"Ha!" Jokul laughed. "Toothless wants to know how something as cute as him could be unholy."

"...So cute it's a sin?" Hiccup offered with a smile. "But, yeah. Stoick didn't really give a lot of details about the dragon that took my mom. All he ever said was that it was the size of our house. Which I always thought was an exaggeration, but I've seen a dragon as big as a mountain before leaving Berk, so I guess it's not out of the question."

"Do you mean a Bewilderbeast?"

"Uh. Maybe? Astrid and I just called it the Red Death," Hiccup said. Jokul looked offended at the name. "...Bad?"

"I guess it might be intimidating to someone that hasn't seen one before, so it's appropriate, but Bewilderbeasts are commonly kind and benevolent," Jokul said. "I met one, maybe about...thirty years ago? He and his flock were looking for a new place to call home after something happened to their old one. He was nice. Taught me about the dragons in his flock and asked if we wanted to join them. Did tell us that if we ever needed help, we could come find him."

"Benevolent, huh? Doesn't sound like the Red Death at all," Hiccup countered. "What does a Bewilderbeast look like?"

"Bigger than the mountain, white, massive crown of spines. It's a sea dragon; swims to get around, and an ice spitter like the Armorhides," the shifter explained.

That didn't sound like the Red Death at all and Hiccup shook his head. No, the dragon Jokul talked about was both too kind and too big. Not to mention the Red Death was blue and was probably a fire breather judging by where it nested.

"No good?" Jokul asked.

"Doesn't match. I guess there are other massive dragon species out there. The Bewilderbeast sounds great, though. I'd love to meet him."

That likely wasn't going to happen. A dragon like the Bewilderbeast was probably really hard to find if you didn't know where to look or what to look for. Which neither of them did, though he was sure Jokul at least had a way to find it if the dragon had offered aide to him and the Armorhides.

"Wonder what he's up to right now. I hope he and his flock found a good place to call home," mused the lycanwing.

"Why didn't you go with him?"

Jokul looked at him when he questioned him, shaking his head and giving a shrug.

"There was no reason to. Our island is still good for us," Jokul said. "Besides, I didn't like the idea of stepping down as alpha. Guess you could say I have an attachment to the role."

"You couldn't have stayed an alpha if you'd gone?" he asked.

"I could've, but it would've eventually caused problems. Alphas...are prone to competitiveness. I'm sure the Bewilderbeast doesn't have a very strong need to assert dominance since there are so few of them, but I'm not like that. When there's even the slightest hint of a challenge, my blood boils. I _hate_ being challenged," the lycanwing explained.

Hiccup raised a brow. He guessed different dragons had different priorities when it came to maintaining their position as an alpha. But, now he was curious and he leaned forward.

"Do the Armorhides challenge you?"

"For the title of alpha, you mean? No. I've never been challenged like that before. The Armorhides are happy to let me have the position. But, sometimes I'll make a decision the flock isn't all that okay with. It rarely goes beyond verbal disapproval, but there have been times when something I did caused some of our flock to leave. Dragon politics isn't much different than what you'd find in a village," Jokul said.

"...Have you ever had to kill a member of your flock?" Hiccup asked carefully.

"I never _had_ to, but I did kill. Once," Jokul confirmed. "It was soon after I became alpha. Today, I'd handle it differently. But, back then, I was...not in control of myself like I am now. He'd always been defiant, even with the former alpha, and he pushed his luck too far when he showed disrespect towards Snowfire."

"Snowfire?"

Jokul looked up. His expression said it all. He hadn't meant to let that name slip. The lycanwing stood then, grabbing his crook, and turned to leave. Hiccup, however, didn't let him and reached up to grab onto the shaft of his crook. When Jokul looked back at him, he sighed but said nothing as he carefully pulled the tool from Hiccup's grip and swiftly disappeared into the forest. Toothless gave a loving purr as he nuzzled his rider, earning a quiet laugh from him. Hiccup honestly wasn't that upset. They were making progress. So what if there were things Jokul couldn't, or wouldn't, talk about? Hiccup was the same way.

"Baby steps."

Toothless rumbled his agreement before the two headed back for the village.


	9. Chapter 9

"Phew."

Hiccup set the shovel beside him as he sat down, leaning forward with his hands planted on the ground between his legs. It would've been easier to just give them a pyre, but they had no boats to use. And, Hiccup was not repairing a boat just to burn it after. Toothless pressed against him with his chin resting on Hiccup's head and the Viking laughed a bit. They both knew he wasn't the least bit tired and was just putting on a dramatic reenactment of his rider's response to labor.

"I know it might be hard to believe, but I'm not as strong as I might look," Hiccup said.

Toothless snorted before getting off Hiccup, nudging him persistently. He sighed and rolled his eyes at the Fury's anticipation. He acted as if they never went flying when that was typically the first thing they did when they woke up. Even before food. Today had just been different because Hiccup was determined to clear the great hall.

He'd been there a month and it was fairly clear to him that he wasn't leaving anytime soon. Hiccup didn't want to live every day looking at the building and knowing there were dead inside.

"Ow!" Hiccup shouted as Toothless butted his head against him roughly, the spines on his head pressing painfully against his arm. "Okay, okay. I get it. We're going."

Hiccup got up and let Toothless shove him over his head and onto the saddle where he secured the harness to the saddle before they were off. They always flew for pleasure in the morning, so Hiccup hadn't gotten much time to admire the island during the later hours of the day. In the setting sun, the snow-capped mountain peaks were stunning, reflecting the pinkish-orange of the evening and the golden glow illuminated the springs and inlet. Even the village looked pleasant, though that was probably his newfound relief of knowing the great hall wasn't so grim anymore.

As the two continued their flight over and around the island, Hiccup looked back down and spotted a group of Armorhides at the inlet. Broad wings, naturally, that seemed to be watching over the tiny teeth and short wings; the hatchlings, as Jokul collectively called them. The shifter, however, was nowhere to be seen as Hiccup scanned the inlet and he guessed he was at the nest. Wherever that was. There were a lot of things Jokul avoided and the location of the Armorhide lair was one of them. Hiccup could respect that, though. The flock didn't like him and Jokul seemed to be their leader; he had to protect them, even if he knew Hiccup wouldn't do anything to hurt them. That and being made to promise not to insert himself into their affairs were fair compromises for being allowed to stay on the island.

Toothless suddenly dropped, snapping Hiccup out of his thoughts as he leaned down and held onto the saddle bars tightly. The Fury gave an annoyed huff as he forced Hiccup to descend.

"Toothless?"

It wasn't until they were on the ground and Toothless stalked into the trees, followed by a group of Terrible Terrors, that Hiccup understood. It was the same group they'd met after their test flight. Hiccup was surprised. He hadn't expected them to follow him, much less a month after he'd left. He blinked as one landed on him and smiled at the Terror that had curled around his shoulders. The Terror he'd given a fish to.

"Hey. What're you all doing here?" Hiccup asked. "...Did you miss us?"

The Terror chirped before the two looked towards Toothless when the larger dragon roared to get the group off of him, sending them to cling to Hiccup as he laughed. Toothless glared at them, but knew it was entirely his fault the rider was being clung to and grumbled as he laid down and blocked the sight with his tail.

"Don't mind him. He's just being a big baby," Hiccup teased, though according to Jokul, he wasn't wrong.

Hiccup received a rock to his head and glared at Toothless, who turned away from him, and rolled his eyes.

"You're only pouting because you know it's true."

Hiccup laughed a bit as the Terrors returned to pester Toothless and though he wasn't happy with them, he seemed to prefer it than them attaching themselves to his rider. As he watched the small dragons use the Night Fury as a playground, being mindful of the equipment he wore much to their relief, Hiccup heard the snapping of twigs behind him. When he turned, he was less than three feet away from an Armorhide. He didn't know this one. It wasn't Frostfang as it didn't have the damage from Toothless's plasma. The look in the dragon's eyes was one of anger and blood lust as it looked between him and Toothless a couple times before it focused solely on the smaller of the two. Hiccup moved away slowly, bringing up his hands as if that would form some kind of barrier between him and the Armorhide.

It didn't, of course, but something clued Toothless in on their visitor. The Fury was suddenly between them, hissing his warning to the angry dragon, but it ignored him. Its eyes were on the rider; everything else seemed to be completely lost to it. When the dragon lunged forward to get to him, it was stopped by Toothless as the black dragon sunk his fangs into its neck, using both their weights to knock it to the ground. That seemed to revive the other's senses because it was now fully aware of Toothless. The two immediately started fighting and Hiccup, unfortunately, found himself right in the middle of it trying to crawl his way to the trees without getting hurt by the thrashing. It wasn't easy, but at least Toothless was mindful of his rider. The Armorhide certainly wasn't. In fact, Hiccup was almost positive it was still trying to get to him.

It damn well almost succeeded, too. The dragon used the sharp spines on its tail to disorient Toothless long enough to sprint at Hiccup, who couldn't think of anything better to do than curl up in a pathetic attempt to protect himself. There was a pain in his arm as the Armorhide managed to claw into it, but it was suddenly shoved away with a shrill and breathy hiss. Hiccup looked out from behind his arm to see the Armorhide sprint into the trees as another followed after. He sat up and cradled his injured arm as Toothless came over to him, purring at him and butting his head to him.

"I've had worse," he assured, earning an irritated chuff from the dragon. "I'm fine, Toothless. Really."

The two turned their heads in the direction the two Armorhides had run off in when they heard the distant sounds of a fight. Deciding it wasn't safe to stick around in the forest anymore, Hiccup mounted Toothless and the two made their way back to the village. Really, they should just leave the island, but Hiccup was nothing if not recklessly stubborn. Besides, he needed to know if the dragon's actions would have some effect on his and Jokul's budding friendship before he made any real decisions. His curiosity towards Jokul was the reason he'd decided to stay on the island in the first place.


	10. Chapter 10

Jokul knew many of the flock didn't approve of his decision to let Hiccup and his brother stay on the island. Icecrawler especially given the incident with the Razorwhip. But, he had trusted his flock to accept his decision regardless, or leave if they didn't. Never would he have imagined such outright dismal of his command. There was a strange and painful combination of anger, betrayal, and guilt swirling in his heart as he stared at Icecrawler. The Armorhide was injured greatly, the majority of her wounds being from another of her kind. Judging by the identical wounds on Frostfang and the blood on his jaw and claws, he knew the self-appointed beta was the one that had fought her the most. However, there was no denying the clear marks left by Toothless.

A small part of him felt he should be angry at the Night Fury, and at Hiccup, but he knew it wasn’t their fault. It had been Icecrawler who attacked first, intent on slaughtering the human to punish him and Toothless for what had happened with her hatchling. Toothless had only been defending his brother. That was why Frostfang had turned his claws against his sister. That and, of course, for her shameless disregard of their alpha's command. That was why none of the Armorhides dared to defend her actions as justified, though many expressed understanding towards her motivation. That was as far as it went. He was content to let the flock argue about it for the time being as he worked on keeping himself calm. It had been a long time since he had felt the need to punish so readily, but he had always done his best to be reasonable.

When the arguments turned into demands on what it was Jokul should do, divided between punishing Icecrawler and exiling the unwanted pair, the lycanwing lost his patience. He sent a thin layer of ice and a strong blast of cold air through the cavern to silence the dragons. The demands ceased immediately as the flock turned their heads to look at him, the older hatchlings disappearing into their respective nests as they knew this was now a matter between the adults.

"...I will not be exiling Hiccup and Toothless as they were not in the wrong," Jokul said, tearing his crook from the ice that had crawled up the shaft during his outburst and approaching Icecrawler. "You, however, seem to have forgotten the order of things. No one is above the alpha. **You obey me!**"

Jokul was now directly in front of the injured Armorhide, less than a foot from her head, standing tall and demanding submission from the dragons around him with his stance. The dragons gave it, lowering themselves into a bow. All except Icecrawler, who stared back at him defiantly.

**"Kneel."**

"I will not."

The dragons around them backed away, surprised by Icecrawler's refusal to obey their alpha. Jokul's eyes narrowed as he looked into hers. He could see she no longer accepted him as her alpha. He would get no submission from her. Not anymore.

"You have chosen outsiders over your flock. You have abandoned your duty as our alpha."

"I have done no such thing."

"I ask that you do not lie to me."

"The path I have chosen is one of peace. Peace that I hoped would lead to releasing you all from your hate."

"You lie again. Your choice to trust that human was done for your own selfish need."

"Snowfire trusted a human."

"A human that got her killed!"

Jokul's heart felt as if it would jump from his chest at Icecrawler's words. There was no way to even pretend that had been a mere implication. It had hurt to hear those words, but the pain quickly turned to rage as his eyes and hair began to glow bright in a display of dominance. The other dragons scurried back to their nests at the sight of their alpha's glow, but he paid them no mind. Jokul glared into Icecrawler's eyes to find even the slightest hint of regret for having spoken those words. There was none to be found.

"That is not a place you want to go, Icecrawler."

"You are only angry because I speak the truth. Had she never loved you, she would still be here."

Rage tangled with guilt at Icecrawler's words. It was a bad enough feeling on its own, but there was a certain charge in the air. It was the same charge he had felt with the Bewilderbeast, but this time, it wasn't just a spark born from him. Jokul was suddenly filled with a sadistic feeling that should've made him sick to his stomach, but he felt nothing but excitement. He was eager to prove himself as the more worthy alpha.

"As a final courtesy between old friends, I will give you the chance to rethink your decision," Jokul nearly purred, desperately hoping she didn't even as he said it.

Her answer came in the form of her own bright glow that illuminated the entirety of her underbelly. Jokul closed his eyes as he accepted what was to happen, only opening them when he had truly steeled himself for the task ahead. It was mostly because he hated his full transformation. It hurt much more to access than his partial one. But, to even stand a chance against the Armorhide, he would need to transform completely. Jokul tossed aside his crook as he felt his body begin to change, soon accompanied by the sound of bones as they cracked and stretched and morphed to change his shape. Sharp, hair-like scales erupted from under his skin to leave behind a mess of blood and flesh beneath him as a quartet of horns sprouted painfully from his skull to create a crown not much different than the crown of a Nadder. Only when he stood on equal grounds with Icecrawler did he cease to grow, fluttering his wings to shake the uncomfortable tingling from them as he moved to readjust to the form he rarely used.

"So be it. If this is your wish, then I will honor it. Know that if you lose, your death will serve as your punishment for the disrespect you have shown me."


	11. Chapter 11

When Hiccup awoke to the sun in his eyes on the third day since the Armorhide attacked him, he was surprised to find that Toothless wasn't with him. The Fury hadn't left his side at all and had even insisted on carrying the rider everywhere; Toothless felt as if his saddle was the safest place for Hiccup, and he couldn't disagree. It made it much easier if they needed to escape at a moment's notice. Though, thankfully, no Armorhides had come near him. Hiccup hadn't even seen any sign of the dragons, much less their leader, in three days. It felt as if they had completely disappeared. And, for all he knew, they might've. He had no idea how they reacted to the incident outside the fight near the inlet.

A thud against the house was what brought Hiccup out of his thoughts, sending him into a slight panic as he ducked under the blanket to hide like a turtle in its shell. When he heard laughing, however, he didn't miss a beat and tossed the blanket off him to sprint down the stairs and out the door. Where he then proceeded to gracelessly slip on ice and crash to the ground.

"Morning, Hiccup," Jokul greeted as he leaned over the Viking with a grin. "Well, afternoon. You slept in late today. Toothless and I got bored waiting for you."

"...Where have you been?" Hiccup asked, probably sounding a bit more relieved than he would've liked. "I was starting to think you left the island."

"What? Why would we leave our home?" Jokul asked.

Jokul held out his crook for Hiccup to take and after staring at the other for a second or two, Hiccup took it and let himself be pulled up. He patted himself off before looking down at the ice path. He figured Toothless had been sliding on it and bumped into the house, which resulted in the thud he'd heard.

"Seriously, though. Where were you, Jokul? I thought...maybe you decided to stop seeing me."

"Aw. Did you miss me?" the shifter asked in a teasing way, causing Hiccup to turn a bit red and look away. "Apparently you did."

"Okay, so I missed you. So what? Will you just answer me?" Hiccup mumbled.

"I thought it would be good for the flock and I to spend some time restricted to the caverns. Icecrawler's attack on you did not go over well," Jokul explained.

"Icecrawler. That's the tiny tooth's mother. What happened to her?"

"She was dealt with. She won't be a threat to you anymore," Jokul said, his tone disturbingly jovial.

It didn't take much to figure out what he was implying.

"Jokul, you didn't kill her because of me, did you? That wasn't fair to her. She had every right to--"

"Don't flatter yourself," Jokul interrupted.

"What?"

"We all know - even _ you _ know - that you interfered with nature when you shouldn't have and that cost the hatchling her life. Icecrawler was rightfully angry with you and had that been the end of it, she would've been justified in her actions against you," Jokul explained. "But, she defied a direct order from her alpha by attacking you and she had to be punished. Had she simply accepted her mistake, the most she would've suffered was exile, but she dared to challenge me and paid for it."

Hiccup didn't know if he liked the alpha side of Jokul. He sounded harsh and cold. Heartless even, but with a tone of pride. Jokul seemed to notice Hiccup's discomfort and sighed, surprising Hiccup by taking his arm and pulling up his sleeve to look at the wound Icecrawler had managed to give him before Frostfang was able to counter her. It wasn't exactly scabbed over yet, but he couldn't deny that Jokul's cold touch felt nice against the wound.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know you probably don't want to hear me talk like that. You're not used to how dragons think and act, and I know you probably expect me to be more..._human_. But, I'm not human. I haven't been in a long time and I never will be again."

Hiccup raised a brow before he looked away, catching Toothless as the Fury struggled to get his tongue unstuck from the ice path he'd decided to lick. Frostfang wasn't too far from him, watching with a look that told him he was both amused by Toothless's antics and he also pitied the idiot for what he'd done. But, he left the dragon to deal with his own problem and looked back at Jokul.

"What do you mean when you say that?" Hiccup asked. "'I haven't been in a long time and I never will be again'. What does that even mean?"

The shifter blinked as he looked up at Hiccup as if he hadn't even realized he said those words to him. But, he sighed and let go of his arm, turning as he ran a hand through his hair.

"...It's a long story, you know."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere. Nowhere to go, remember?"

Jokul gave a small laugh before he looked at the house Hiccup and Toothless had been staying in. He was quiet for a couple seconds, walking over to place his hand against the wall, before he shook his head and turned to Hiccup again.

"Come with me," Jokul said, not giving Hiccup a chance to say anything before he flew off towards the mountain.

"Wha--Hey! Jokul!"

Hiccup quickly mounted Toothless, glad he'd gotten himself unstuck, and the two chased after him. The chase led them to the far side of the island where Jokul waited for them before descending to the base of the mountain. When they landed, Hiccup slid off Toothless and approached Jokul, though he was quietly told to step back with a gesture before Jokul said something to Toothless. The Fury tilted his head before firing off a single and powerful shot at the wall in front of them. It shattered just as the ice that blocked the great hall's door had and Hiccup realized it was an entrance that had been blocked.

"Follow me."

This time, thankfully, Jokul simply walked through the hole Toothless had revealed. Looking at each other, both rider and dragon gave a simultaneous shrug before following him. They found him just as Frostfang appeared, taking his place next to Jokul as he continued to lead him deeper into the cave. Hiccup looked around as they walked, not sure why Jokul had led them there, but he was brought out of his thoughts when he stepped on something that snapped beneath his boot. He and Toothless looked down as he moved his foot out of the way only for Hiccup to fall back with a sound of horror and shock, fumbling to find his voice.

It was a bone. He'd stepped on the arm of an old skeleton. Toothless whined, his nubs flat against his head in discomfort, as he helped Hiccup to his feet. The Viking rested a hand on his friend's head in hopes of comforting him. Neither liked where this was going.

"Are you okay?" Jokul asked.

"Oh, sure. I just love being led into tombs."

"...I guess it would be a tomb now," the shifter said. "Watch your step. It gets more crowded the further in you go."

Hiccup grunted when Toothless bumped him, insisting he carry Hiccup through the cave. He couldn't be sure if it was because Toothless didn't want Hiccup to think he had to traverse the cavern on his own or because he wanted the rider closer for mutual comfort, but he obliged and climbed into the saddle. He was soon glad he did because he didn't think he'd be able to go further on his own as they began to pass more and more skeletons of both humans and dragons alike.

It was clear to him there had been a battle. The dragon skeletons had spears and arrows scattered around them and many of the human skeletons were mutilated in some way; some even missing their heads. There were many old bloodstains on the walls and floor, but it took a good bit of time for Hiccup to realize they themselves were following a blood trail that went straight through the battlefield. He made sure to note that the trail went around the dragons, but seemed to not show the same courtesy to the humans. That led Hiccup to believe it was the blood of a dragon.

Before long, the four entered a wide cavern that held the majority of the dead. In the center of the cavern, among the skeletons of Armorhides and Vikings, rested the skeleton of a much larger dragon. Wingless, just like an Armorhide, but far bigger than a Nadder. It was even bigger than a Nightmare, and bigger than what he imagined the dragon that took his mother was. He jumped when Frostfang pushed against Toothless, earning a growl from the Fury before he followed Jokul again as he walked around the massive skeleton. It was curled up, forming a circle with its tail and head. Though, the head was missing. All the dragon heads were missing.

"This is Snowfire," Jokul said as he rested a hand on a rib. "She....She was my Toothless."

"She was huge," Hiccup said, which prompted a laugh from Jokul.

"Yeah, she was. That's because she was an ancient Armorhide in the final stage of their lifespan. A titan wing if I'm remembering the human term for it right."

"...What happened to her and the others here?"

"A war. One of the villagers killed a hatchling and the flock retaliated, slaughtering the village's youth that hid in the great hall. And, the people retaliated against that," Jokul explained. "It was a mess, and it was all my fault."

Hiccup frowned, but didn't get to ask what he meant before Jokul looked at him with pain in his eyes. The look silenced any words Hiccup had before they even formed in his head.

"It was here, three hundred years ago, where I became a lycanwing. But, before that, and before I ever even met Snowfire, I was just...Jack Overland," Jokul said. “I was next in line as chief of Burgess, set to inherit the title and responsibilities when my uncle passed.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one, and I'm sorry for that, but it was either this or a chapter that would basically be a wall of dialogue. This seemed like the much more entertaining read out of the two options. It was definitely the funner one to write!

"'Don't come back until you've killed a wolf'," Jack mimicked in an insultingly shrill tone. "Because nothing says 'I'm a man' like killing something that's minding its own business."

Jack looked at the dagger in his hand before sighing and sitting on the shore of the lagoon, setting his crook and the bow next to him. If he was being honest, he was surprised his uncle let him get away with avoiding the hunt for so long. Most were required to do the trial at fourteen. Jack would be eighteen when winter came. He guessed his uncle was lenient purely for his brother's sake. His dad had always been overprotective of him and Flee. Their mother had been frail and sickly, so he had always worried that they would suffer the same fate. It was generous of his uncle to put off Jack's trial for his brother, but there was only so long he could get away with it before others started showing displeasure.

A couple of complaints, a reminder here and there, and suddenly Jack was under temporary exile until he returned with a wolf's head on a spike.

"This is so stupid. When I'm chief, I'm kicking this tradition right into the sea."

Jack looked down at the bow and then his dagger before suddenly becoming disgusted. He picked up the bow and tossed both it and the dagger into the water before tearing the quiver off him to do the same. Maybe he'd get lucky and he'd find a dead wolf he could pass off as his own. Though, being a hermit in the woods didn't sound too bad. Sounded fun actually.

The brunette's eyes were drawn to the inlet when he noticed bubbling in his peripheral vision as he stared at nothing in particular. The bubbling only got worse and he watched it curiously until he started to see a large white mass appear from the depths. It wasn't very long at all before the creature emerged from the water, and Jack moved back to both get away from it and the water that spilled over the shore. It felt like it was too late to run, so instead, he brought his hood up and curled into a ball, hoping that if he made himself appear small, whatever it was would leave him alone and go about its day.

_ "You should be careful, little one. Someone could have been hurt." _

Jack blinked when he heard the voice, resonating through his head as if it had come from somewhere deep in his own thoughts. It was a comforting voice. Gentle and carrying a tone of wisdom. The heir peeked out from behind his hood only to curl up more when a large clawed hand hovered over him, dripping water onto him, before he heard a series of soft thumps on the ground next to him. Only when the hand had moved, allowing the sun to shine on him again, did he peek out a second time to find his discarded weapons on the grass. He couldn't do anything but stare at them with a raised brow.

_ "It is dangerous to throw such things into the water. There are creatures that do not know to stay away from them beneath the surface." _

Curiosity got the better of him and Jack looked back towards the creature. His jaw dropped as he stared in wonder at the gargantuan Armorhide that towered over him, looking down at him with pale blue eyes. He had seen plenty of Armorhides in his life, but never one as big as the one he had disturbed. The largest he'd seen was just barely bigger than a Nadder. What was more intriguing was the pair of horns that protruded from its head, curling down to underline its jaw like tusks. And, Jack could swear he could see glittering on its scales as they moved to flatten against it as their scales did.

"I....I'm sorry."

He heard a gentle and amused chuckle as the Armorhide lowered itself to be closer to Jack's height.

_ "You are young, little one. A hatchling is meant to make mistakes and learn from them. It is how they become capable adults. So long as you have learned from it, there is no need to be sorry." _

"You're, uh....You're talking to me."

_ "I am." _

"...H-How...?"

He received a hum that was suspiciously mischievous.

_ "You could say it is a secret among elders." _

"Oh," Jack said as he sat up. "Cool."

_ "Yes. 'Cool' indeed. Tell me, little one, where is your flock? It is dangerous for one so young to wander alone. Many even younger than you have fallen to the perils of the forest." _

The Armorhide must have been referring to the hunt. A lot of the youth didn't make it back.

"Uh....I'm supposed to be hunting."

Jack received a curious tilt of the head from the dragon at his confession. He felt uncomfortable as the Armorhide stared into his eyes. It was as if it was staring directly into his soul.

_ "...You do not wish to be hunting. Is that why you discarded the tools your kind use for such a task, little one?" _

"It's Jack," he said irritably. He hadn't liked being called "little" even when he had been a kid. "Jack, not 'little one'."

_ "Jokul." _

"What? No, not Jokul. I'm not a winter spirit. _ Jack_."

_ "Do forgive me. I fear I am unfamiliar with your human names." _

Their human names. Jack looked at the Armorhide as he bounced the words in his head. Did dragons really have a hard time with their names?

"I never thought it was that hard to say," Jack mused. "What's your name?"

The sound that resonated through his head was the most complex jumble of _ sounds _ he had ever heard. How was any of that even a _ name_? The dragon must have seen his wide-eyed expression because it released a collection of short breaths that almost sounded like laughter.

_ "I suppose the closest thing in your tongue would be 'snow fire'." _

Jack took a step back as Snowfire's head got closer to his, but as he looked back into her eyes, any fear of the dragon he had melted away. Snowfire hid nothing from him; he saw only curiosity towards the human boy. There was no hostility to be seen. Jack's hand tightened on his crook as he nervously reached his other up to tentatively rest against the cool bone of one of Snowfire's horns. He watched as the dragon closed her eyes at his touch, seeming to lean into it.

"It's nice to meet you, Snowfire."

******

When Jack had asked if he could be at the hatching, he hadn't expected Snowfire to approve. He had known the titan wing less than a month and had only ever been to the Armorhide lair a handful of times. But, there he was, sitting on Snowfire's horn so he could see over the crowd of Armorhides that surrounded the nest of thirty or so eggs as they waited to greet the new members of their flock.

"It's not just the parents then?"

_ "No, little one. Our kind raise our young together. No hatchling has one mother or one father." _

"'It takes a village', I guess."

Snowfire let out a confused hum at the words Jack spoke, but he just laughed it off and motioned for her to forget it.

"So, what's going to happen? Do dragons have some special tradition when it comes to babies?"

_ "We will give the hatchlings their names and then they will spend the next four to seven suns under the watchful eye of the carers until they can see and move on their own." _

"Tiny tooth Armorhides are blind when they hatch?"

_ "They are blind and their bodies are weak. Their scales are nothing more than a second layer of flesh. There is much that leaves them vulnerable. That is why we must be so vigilant when we are protecting them." _

Jack went to say something, but was gently hushed by his friend. He looked back down at the eggs and beamed when he noticed they were hatching. The brunette moved forward on Snowfire's horn to look down eagerly. He watched as, one by one, the tiny teeth clawed and pushed their way from their shells to be greeted by the older generations. Couples stepped forward with each hatching to be the first to greet them and Jack guessed the pairs were the ones responsible for laying the eggs, so they had the privilege of being the first the tiny teeth met.

"They're so cute. I knew they would be."

_ "Yes." _

As Jack continued to watch the new dragons hatch into the world, his eyes would occasionally find their way to a pair of Armorhides that grew more nervous as the eggs continued to hatch. It got to a point where he could only watch them instead of the eggs, curious about their behavior. It wasn't until Snowfire gave a sorrowful trill that he looked back at the nest to find a single remaining egg. The nervous pair stalked towards it, one of them nudging the egg with their nose before deflating, tail sagging to the ground while their partner consoled them.

"What's going on?"

_ "The egg will not hatch." _

"What?"

_ "Stormfang and Frosthide have had difficulty conceiving and laying eggs. They have only had one successful hatchling." _

"...They're infertile?"

_ "Is that what you humans call it? Do humans suffer it as well?" _

"Yeah....My mother was like that. She...died. Giving birth to Flee."

_ "Then this Flee is blessed, and should live long and proud." _

The dragons began to file out of the nesting chamber, taking the hatchlings with them, save for the pair of grieving parents and Snowfire. The titan wing began to speak to Stormfang and Frosthide in the bizarre language of noises, but since Jack couldn't understand it, he focused his attention on the egg. He tapped his crook against Snowfire's horn, signaling to her he wanted down, and hooked the tool to her claw when she offered it to ride down. She, however, remained focused on the Armorhide couple. None of them looked at Jack, or noticed as he approached the egg and knelt in front of it. They were too busy with their conversation.

"Hey. Can you hear me?" Jack asked. "If you can, it's time for you to come out now."

There was nothing. Not even the slightest hint of movement. Jack frowned as he shuffled closer to the egg, picking it up to hold it carefully against his ear. There was no reason he thought to do it; he just did. He didn't expect it to result in anything, so when he heard nothing but the sound of Snowfire and the pair talking to each other, he wasn't too upset.

"Come on, little guy. Everyone's waiting for you. You don't want to disappoint them, do you?"

Again, no sign of life from the egg, but Jack was nothing if not stubborn. Setting the egg down again, he sat cross-legged across from it with his crook standing between his legs so he could lean on it.

"...Tell you what. If you hatch right now, I'll be your best friend," Jack bribed as if there was any logic in the thought. Logic or not, Jack nearly jumped up when the egg gave a weak wiggle and he dropped the crook to crawl closer, catching the dragons' attention. "C'mon. You have to try harder than that, little guy."

_ "Jokul....You need not feel obligated. These things are sad, but they happen. All we can do is--" _

The egg suddenly cracked and Jack beamed. The three dragons went quiet as they moved away to watch in awe.

"That's it. Come on. Just a little more," Jack urged.

The hatchling struggled a bit more before, finally, it burst from its shell and tumbled to the floor in a slimy mess. Jack held his breath as the hatchling laid there still and barely breathing. He gave a soft coo as a final urge before the hatchling stood on its wobbly little legs and moved towards him slowly. Jack caught it as it collapsed again and lifted it to his ear to listen, finding a strong heartbeat and feeling as its breathing began to even out. When the hatchling let out a squawk and turned itself in his arms to rest comfortably, Jack's worry was swiftly replaced with pride and relief.

"Yes! That's it! I knew you could do it!" Jack exclaimed happily, looking up at the three dragons. His elation left him when he saw they were only staring at him with something he couldn't describe. "...Was that wrong?"

_ "...No, my dear, it was not wrong." _

As Stormfang and Frosthide approached to nuzzle the hatchling, Snowfire moved to press her nose against her human companion.

_ "You were wonderful. You have made a miracle. How did you do it?" _

"I don't really know. I just...couldn't walk away and not do anything to try. You know?"

_ "I do not know....But, I am grateful to you, little one. Tell me, Jokul, what would you name him?" _

Jack's brows furrowed as he looked up at Snowfire. At first, he thought she was only teasing or maybe he had misheard her, but as always, her eyes didn't lie. She was giving him permission to choose the hatchling's name. He smiled a bit at the privilege as he looked down at the hatchling in his arms, running his thumb gently over the soft scales, before he looked up at the two parents that watched him both wearily and eagerly. A puff of frost came from the hatchling as he either hiccuped or burped and Jack laughed a bit.

"...Frostfang. I would name him Frostfang."

******

_ "Why do humans only have fur in the strangest places?" _

Jack blinked and looked up at Snowfire as the Armorhide lounged near the springs, her eyes fixated on him as he bathed. He just shrugged at her question. He didn't know the answer to that.

"Maybe we'd look ugly covered in hair."

_ "Hair?" _

"It's what we call our fur."

_ "I see....You would be ugly covered in it?" _

"Maybe. I don't know. What do you think?" Jack asked, earning a tilted head from Snowfire. "Imagine it. Do you think I'd be ugly?"

_ "I would not." _

"...Did you even imagine it?"

Snowfire stood then and approached him, pressing her nose to him. He let out a breathy laugh as the smooth scales of her snout tickled his stomach.

_ "There is no need for it matters not. I would not care if you were covered in fur or entirely bare just as I do not care that you are scaleless. Fur and scales do not define the soul and your soul, my dearest, is bright and pure. You are glorious and beautiful as you are." _

Jack was taken by surprise by her words. He took a few steps back further into the spring, tripping on an unseen rock that sent him falling back into the water. He emerged and coughed before Snowfire pulled a laugh from her throat, and glared at her in a mischievous way. As she continued to laugh at his clumsiness, Jack quickly swiped his arm across the water to splash her. The Armorhide seeming shocked at his audacity, but all he did was give her a challenging grin to dare her to do something about it.

The heavy puff of cool air and frost that followed was unexpected.

He probably should've ducked into the warm water of the spring when the cold hit him, but Jack's instinct was to get out of the water - which only made it worse - and rush out over to wrap himself with his cloak. He brought the hood up and curled forward to encase himself in the thick fabric of the cloak, his breathing choppy as he waited for his attempt to warm himself to work. When he heard Snowfire move over to him slowly and felt her nudge him ever so slightly, he peeked out from under his hood.

_ "Did I hurt you, little one?" _

"Hurt me? No. I'm not hurt," Jokul reassured.

_ "Then you are...cold?" _

Jack nodded before ducking his head back down. It was quiet between them as Jack continued to shake. After a couple of minutes of no improvement, Snowfire seemed to grow increasingly worried and nudged him again with a bit more urgency and force. When he remained still, Snowfire did it again with an added trill of concern and Jack sighed before looking up.

"I'm fine, Snowfire."

_ "You most certainly are not. Your shaking has gotten worse. Why do you respond so harshly to my breath?" _

"I'm not 'responding harshly'. It's just the water and cold air. I'll warm up soon enough."

Snowfire wasn't buying his promises. He could see it in her eyes. Before he could even think to protest or try to reassure her again, the dragon snatched the top of his hood in her teeth and pulled, yanking the cloak off of him.

"S-Snow...!" Jack gasped both in response to the cold and in shock. "What was that for!?"

_ "I see stubbornness and pride run deep within all males. Do you take me for a fool? I see you are lying for me, and I do not appreciate it." _

"I--Well--"

Jack was silenced as Snowfire pushed him to the ground, standing over him on all fours. He watched the scales on her sides stand as her head reared back ever so slightly. He had known her long enough to recognize the telltale signs of when she was preparing to attack.

"Snowfire!"

As if it would do him any good, Jack turned on his side and curled up as he covered his head with his arms. He heard the sharp intake of breath above him and his body tensed as it waited for an icy blast from the Armorhide. It never came. Instead, Jack was hit with a gentle heat and for a few seconds, he thought he had lost his mind in his final moments. But, as the heat continued and his body began to recover from Snowfire's cold breath, he realized he hadn't lost his mind. His brows furrowed before he peeked out from behind his arm to find flames the color of the sky around and even on him, dancing their way across his skin as if to melt away the cold he felt.

When the flames ceased and Jack could once again see Snowfire, he sat up carefully as he stared into her eyes. He didn't know what to say or ask or do, but he saw the loving look in the gaze that never lied.

_ "Never lie to me. I cannot help you if you do not tell me what is wrong." _

"What...did you...? You didn't....Huh?"

_ "Old age has given me many talents lost to my kind, and I have used one such talent to protect you. Do not tell me I did not need to do so. You are close to my heart, dearest Jokul, and I will help you however I can. Even when you do not ask for it." _

Jack laughed a bit as he rested his hands on her snout, moving close to put his head to it.

"Snowfire, you're amazing."

******

It had been almost three months since Jack and Snowfire had met. They had gone by so quickly that it felt to him that time had completely stopped, though he knew that was ridiculous as the trees began to change from vibrant green to a collage of red, yellow, and orange. Had the changing of the seasons always been so beautiful? Jack had never noticed the changes until they had overtaken the island.

Jack let out a shout when Snowfire leapt over a ravine before sitting up to look out at the moonlit mountain hills as they climbed to the summit. It was lightly storming, the thunder fairly weak compared to the storms of the summer months. He knew he should be worried about it, but he was with Snowfire and trusted her to know what she was doing. Still, he was curious, and as they reached the very tip of the summit, Jack looked around before looking down at her, leaning over her brow to look into her eye.

"Why did we come all the way up here, Snow?"

_ "You once told me you wished you could know what it was like to fly. Forgive me, dear one, but I can only show you the world beneath the waves. The clouds are beyond me. I can, however, find ways for you to fly among them, though I am afraid I will need to stay here." _

Jack raised a brow at Snowfire's words and went to ask what she meant, but the Armorhide released a scream into the air. Snowfire watched the skies intently and Jack followed her example. He didn't know what she was up to, but with his curiosity piqued and his trust in her strong, he simply waited for whatever she had planned to happen. It was all he could really do now anyway. It wasn't as if he could climb back down the mountain himself.

A roar caught his attention and Jack squinted as he scanned the storm clouds. Before long, he watched a dragon descend from behind the clouds. It wasn't until it was closer that Jack was able to see it was a Skrill, his eyes wide with wonder at the sight of a dragon known to be aggressive as it hovered less than twenty feet from his face to look at him and Snowfire. The two dragons spoke to one another before Snowfire lowered her head to bump him off, earning a sharp inhale from him as he landed on his butt. The Skrill followed, landing and looking at him with a curious but weary gaze.

_ "Your dagger." _

"What?"

_ "Entice him with it. Show him that you, too, can command the storm." _

Jack did as instructed, kneeling to unsheath the dagger from inside his boot and drop the crook at his feet. He stood once he had it in hand and carefully raised it to show the Skrill, who was immediately enthralled with the metal blade. Jack smiled a bit before he moved the dagger around almost as if he was trying to dance, watching the dragon as it followed the movements with his head. He didn't know what came over him, but as he enticed the Skrill with the dagger, he moved over slowly until he was standing right in front of the dragon. Neither of them moved for a good minute, but Jack made the first move and raised his hand to offer to the Skrill. To his surprise and delight, the Skrill met him halfway and his hand was soon resting gently on the dragon's snout.

_ "He will let you fly with him now." _

"Fly with him?"

He watched the Skrill as he turned, exposing his back to the human, and Jack's heart raced with excitement. When he looked back at Snowfire and received a gentle nudge to go ahead, he beamed and climbed onto the purple dragon, sitting himself on the spineless area of his back. Jack looked at Snowfire one more time before the Skrill spread its wings and took off swiftly from the summit and into the stormy sky. Jack held on tightly to the crown on the Skrill's head, keeping his head low and eyes screwed shut. It was all he could do to keep himself from screaming, which was what he really wanted to do. It wasn't until the Skrill's ascension came to an end and it settled into a gentle pace that Jack was brave enough to open his eyes and look up. And, his breath caught in his throat.

It was dark, but every so often, thunder would rumble and light up the clouds around them. The wind whipped around them, but the Skrill wasn't at all bothered by it as he cut through the gusts with ease. They were inside the storm. Jack couldn't have ever imagined what it was like to fly among thunder. There was nothing to describe the feeling of wonder and exhilaration that flowed through him like blood. And, it felt natural to him. Just as he had felt when Snowfire had taken him into the sea to show him the world he couldn't see from the island, or how he had felt when he played and danced with the Armorhides. It was as if he had been born to be right where he was.

He was free.

The Skrill suddenly ascended again, prompting Jack to hold onto his crown, and he closed his eyes as they passed through the clouds. When he opened them again, they were gliding above the storm. The moon looked so very close to them as its light shined on them and the clouds and Jack leaned over with his arm out. His hand touched only air, earning a laugh from the Viking. So, the moon was further away than he had grown up believing.

"This is amazing," Jack breathed out before he rested a hand gently on the Skrill's back. "I had no idea it would be like this."

A piercing cry rang through the sky just then and Jack looked down with a slight laugh. Snowfire. Was she worried the Skrill had carried him off to Gods knew where? He wondered where the Skrill would take him if he had. What he would show him. But, as another cry caught his ears, Jack shook the curiosity from his mind. He wouldn't dream of leaving her behind like that.

"I think it's time you took me home."

The Skrill chittered at him before he dove back through the clouds and straight through the storm before shifting to a careful glide as he descended towards the island. Jack looked towards the mountain where Snowfire would be waiting to take him back to the nest, ready to hear her human companion gush over the flight he'd been taken on. And, he was ready to do that and thank her for giving him the chance to experience it despite the obvious fear she had that he would choose flying over her. He made a note in his mind to make it up to her somehow, though he wasn't sure what it was he could give her.

His thoughts were harshly interrupted when the Skrill descended sharply and Jack looked down to see he was heading for the village. Jack's brows furrowed.

"What are you doing? I said take me...home," Jack said, his voice growing softer as he spoke.

The Skrill had thought he meant the village. How would he not think that? Jack was human, and humans lived together in villages. It was where he knew Jack had been born and raised, though he couldn't possibly know that Jack was not allowed at the village. Jack's chest tightened as the Skrill corrected his course to return him to Snowfire and he watched the village until it became difficult to continue turning his head.

He had barely thought of the village since he was cast out to hunt. Snowfire had become his life since the day he met her at the lagoon. He'd all but forgotten about them. Not even Flee had crossed his mind all that much, and that was what hurt him the most.

The Skrill landed on the summit of the mountain and knelt to let Jack slide off. The two shared a brief moment together as Jack rested his hand against the Skrill's snout a second time before it flew off to continue on to wherever it would go. When it was gone, Jack turned and looked up at Snowfire. She had his crook held securely between her teeth and when she offered it, he took and looked at it. His thumb ran over the wood, caressing his initials that had been carved into the wood by his mother, and he sighed.

_ "Jokul?" _

"...Am I a terrible person?" he asked quietly, bringing his crook up to hold against his chest. "Did I do something wrong?"

_ "What? Of course you are not terrible, and you have done nothing wrong. Why do you ask such things?" _

Jack looked up at Snowfire when she spoke, letting her press her nose against him to comfort him.

"Then why do I feel like it? Why...do I feel like I've abandoned the village?"

A hum resonated through her as the Armorhide let him climb up onto her head so they could begin their descent.

_ "Do you wish to return?" _

"I....I don't know."

_ "Jokul." _

He looked into her eyes from where he sat on her snout.

_ "There is nothing wrong with feeling you belong in one place. Nor is there anything wrong with realizing that place is not the place you were raised to believe you belonged." _

"So, it's okay to completely forget about them? Even my dad? And, sister?"

_ "Do you love them?" _

"Of course."

_ "Even now, after so long of having them absent from your thoughts?" _

"Yes. That's why I--"

_ "Then you have not forgotten them. Perhaps it is different for humans, but for dragons, simply because we do not think of one we love does not mean we have stopped loving them. They are always there in our hearts and, one day, we will think back on them and cherish the love we shared." _

"...Would you ever stop thinking about me?"

Snowfire stopped walking and stared into his eyes with a sad look.

_ "There will come a day when we will need to say goodbye. Humans and dragons live different lives, and you will find your way to the halls of this Valhalla long before I take to the fields of Vanaheim. I am alpha, my dear; I cannot live in my memories for it would put my flock at risk." _

"Oh," he said quietly, having honestly forgot dragons lived longer than humans.

_ "...You still worry you have done wrong by your sire and sister." _

Jack sighed, bringing his hood up to cover his head. Of course he did. He knew Snowfire was right; he hadn't stopped loving them just because he hadn't thought of them for a time. But, now that he remembered they were there, he felt...selfish. They must think him dead after so long of waiting for him to return to the village. He really was terrible.

"...I think it's time for me to go back," Jack confessed, looking up at her. "But, I....I don't want to leave you."

_ "You will not have left me, my dear. Our hearts are one, and they will always be one. We will always be together, even if we must be apart." _

"If only you could come with me."

_ "Hm. If only it were possible, but to do that, peace between our kinds would need to happen. I fear that day is still so very far away." _

"Yeah," Jack muttered as he hugged his knees to his chest. "...Hey. Maybe I can do it."

_ "What is that?" _

"I can show them we can get along. Then we won't have to say goodbye, or sneak around. I mean, yeah, I can't fix things between everyone, but....I don't know. Maybe I can get my tribe and your flock to be together. We're already halfway there; our flocks don't fight. Surely it's possible."

_ "...I do not know, dearest one. It feels too full of risks." _

"Oh, come on. I'm sure I can do it. I'll....I'll, uh...." Jack contemplated, his voice fading as he thought before he smiled. "I'll take a hatchling back with me to the village!"

Jack lowered his hood and stared at her with a smile. He was sure he could do it. They all knew hatchlings were the least dangerous when it came to dragons. Surely Jack could show them they could be friends. Show them they didn't need to be scared of one another.

_ "...Perhaps....I trust you, Jokul, so I will permit it." _

"Great! It'll work, you'll see! I guess all I need to do now is kill a wolf."


	13. Chapter 13

"But, it didn't work."

Jokul looked at Hiccup when he spoke, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. He could see everything he was feeling in the human's eyes, but Jokul couldn't tell what it was that left him on the verge of tears. There were a lot of things to see in those forest green eyes of his. Empathy, grief, anger, awe; his story left a lot of emotions in its wake that Hiccup didn't seem to be able to control. Apparently he was an emotional person under all that sarcasm.

"...Maybe I went about it wrong? Maybe I should've gone to my uncle first and spoke with him directly? Told him what I'd been doing while I was gone?" Jokul speculated, almost wanting to laugh at himself for dwelling on what ifs and should haves. "It was Flee and her friends that I met first when I returned to Burgess. They were fascinated by the hatchling, Hiccup. I guess that caught an adult's attention because the next thing I knew, we were all being pulled away from the hatchling. I couldn't...do anything. I guess I was in too much shock, and because I froze, someone was able to kill him."

The lycanwing had to take a few moments to breathe in deeply and stop himself from crying. Frostfang pressed his snout against the alpha, releasing a comforting purr, and Jokul smiled up at the Armorhide. He was glad Frostfang had been out with the carers the day he returned to the village. He had, of course, been the hatchling he wanted to bring with him.

"The Armorhides attacked the man that killed their young. Naturally that sent the village into a panic and while we were taken to the great hall, everyone else grabbed any weapon they could find. Gods....None of us knew what was going to happen next."

"...You were...in the great hall?"

"It was the stuff of nightmares. The dragons were focused solely on the building, doing everything they could to get in for what felt like forever. It was Frosthide that broke in first through the door, and of course I tried to stop her. I thought it was working, too, but when the others realized the doors were open, they just...ran in and...and they...." Jokul said, his voice tense as it trailed off. He could still hear the horrible sounds of the massacre. Could still see the carnage that included his sister. "...Everyone in the great hall was killed and I couldn't do a thing to stop the dragons; they just wouldn’t listen. Afterwards, the dragons left and took me with them. I don't know if the villagers stormed the nest because they were angry about the children or because they wanted to rescue me or both, but they did and they came armed to the sky with weapons. As you can see, it was a bloodbath."

Hiccup looked around as if to reaffirm that description and Jokul almost chuckled at the shiver he gave at the image he must've gotten. The lycanwing could promise it was nothing compared to the real thing.

"I tried to stop the villagers and the dragons from fighting. Even got in the way of some of the skirmishes. But, nothing I did or said mattered. None of them were willing to listen. Then I heard Frostfang scream and I just....I don't know what came over me, but I just--"

"Reacted," Hiccup said, though he looked as if he was sorry when he realized he'd spoken aloud.

"...Yeah. I just reacted. I saw him trying to avoid all the fighting. When he saw me, I guess he thought that meant he was safe because he came straight for me. My uncle saw this and he raised his sword to kill him and I just _ couldn't let him do that_," he hissed out. "So, I ran at him and pushed him away so Frostfang could get away. I guess my uncle didn't like that very much; saw it as an act of treason. Because when I turned around to talk to him and try to reason with him, he turned his sword on me. I....I remember seeing a group of Armorhides attack him and then I was out. There was nothing; I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I couldn't feel. I was...dead. I was _ dead_, Hiccup. And, when I woke up, Snowfire was gone and I was what I am now. I took her place as the alpha of the Armorhides."

Jokul clenched his fists tightly around his crook as he leaned on it, finding it hard to stand as his legs began to feel weak from telling his story and reliving the memories he tried to forget. All to satisfy the curiosity of a human he hardly knew. A part of him felt like something had been lifted from his chest, though. When it became clear Hiccup wasn't going to say anything, Jokul frowned and stared at him.

"Nothing to say?" he asked, both annoyed and weary.

"...Do you prefer Jokul or Jack?" Hiccup asked after a few more moments of silence.

"Brother!" the Fury exclaimed in shock at Hiccup's question, an angry and disgusted hiss coming from Frostfang's throat.

The Night Fury smacked Hiccup's face with a nub, but where the dragons found Hiccup's question repulsive, Jokul just stared at him before he laughed. He laughed so hard he dropped his crook and hugged himself. After all that, Hiccup's first question was on what he should call him? He continued to laugh until his stomach hurt and only when he could breathe right again did he pick up his crook and look back at Hiccup, who seemed proud of himself despite the red mark on his face. Jokul wasn't even sure why he had laughed, but he felt better.

"You're a damned bastard, Hiccup."

"Sorry. I just figured you could use something after telling me all that," Hiccup said. "...To be honest, I have a lot to say."

"So then say it," Jokul urged. "I want to hear it."

"...I think you're giving yourself too much credit," Hiccup said as he slid off of Toothless's saddle. "'It was all my fault'? It sounds like you think too highly of yourself."

Jokul felt confusion and anger start to bubble at Hiccup's words, moving away from him as he came closer. That wasn't exactly what he thought he'd say.

"Who's to say the war between the village and the Armorhides wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been there? And, how do you know you wouldn't have become what you are some other way? For all you know, it was only a matter of time before the villagers started seeing the dragons as a threat and you might've met another dragon down the line that loved you enough to give you their life," Hiccup said. "So you were the catalyst to a war; oh, well. It sucks, but if it was meant to happen, it would've happened one way or another. It's the same for Toothless and me."

The lycanwing watched Hiccup rest his hand on Toothless's head, the dragon bumping him affectionately.

"I've had a lot of time to think about Berk and what happened between me and the tribe there. If I hadn't shot down Toothless, who's to say I still wouldn't have met him at some point down the line? Who's to say we still wouldn't have left Berk, for one reason or another, and ended up here on this island?"

"Well, I suppose that answers why the hatchling is injured the way he is," Frostfang chittered.

"For all I know, I could've been made to do what you had to and met Toothless the same way you met Snowfire. Or, the chief could've finally gotten tired of having someone like me around and just exiled me where I could've met him while I was dying at sea because do I look like the kind of person that can fend for himself?" Hiccup asked in his rant. "Look, what I'm saying is that you don't know if what happened was destined to or not, so blaming yourself will only hurt you in the long run. In the moment, sure; it makes sense then. But, it's been three hundred years. That's a long time to hold onto something like guilt."

Jokul looked at Hiccup as he spoke. His voice was clear and he had confidence in what he was saying. He figured that out in less than two months whereas Jokul had centuries to do so and hadn't gotten anywhere close to that point? To say Jokul was impressed and intimidated by Hiccup's spiritual wisdom that was well beyond his years was an understatement.

"How...are you so sure of your words like this?” Jokul asked.

"...I guess when you live with disappointment your entire life and no one's there to cheer you up, being able to give yourself encouragement comes easy to you. And, I know all about disappointment. Can't you tell? What part of me screams 'I'm the perfect Viking'?"

"You are perfect to me, Brother."

Jokul smiled at Toothless's admiration for his human companion, looking back at Hiccup before sending a layer of ice in his direction, laughing as the other slipped despite having been standing still.

"Nothing at all. You are far from the perfect Viking," Jokul said, ignoring the annoyed and offended look on Hiccup's face as he offered his crook to him. "But, maybe that's because you're not meant to be a Viking. Maybe neither of us were meant to be what we were raised to believe."

The two laughed as Jokul pulled Hiccup up off the ground and for a moment, it felt as if he was with Snowfire again. Frostfang was right. Hiccup was good for him.


	14. Chapter 14

When Hiccup had first left, Astrid had been hurt. Not because she blamed Hiccup or was angry that he had gone without her; she wouldn't have gone with him even if he had asked. She had more of an attachment to Berk than Hiccup did, so of course she knew he would leave with Toothless. Because she knew Toothless was the first and only thing that had ever accepted him; the first and only thing in his life Hiccup had ever been truly happy with. She accepted that and accepted that she couldn't expect him to put weeks of friendship behind for a relationship that was only a day old.

Still, for the first few days, she had gone back to the cove in hopes that he would be there. Not to stay, of course, as that would be foolish. But, to at least get a proper goodbye. She had wanted to promise him that she would find a way for him to come home someday. That hope died pretty quickly within a couple days when it became obvious he was gone and wasn't coming back. She continued to visit the cove every day, though, for the sole purpose of escaping the village and getting away from the things they were saying about Hiccup.

He was a traitor. He was an outcast.

Disgusting.

Unnatural.

_ Abomination_.

It had been a little over a month and Astrid couldn't stand it. They knew nothing about him and didn't want to know. They didn't want to hear about how much of a benefit Hiccup's tactic could be during raids, or how Hiccup was braver and better than all of them for doing something none of them had ever even considered. And, Snotlout was the worst of them. It was pathetically laughable how easily he had changed gears and gross at how quick he started calling himself the next chief. Which was, unfortunately, not an exaggeration. He was Stoick's nephew, so without an heir himself, Snotlout was next in line.

She hoped she died before he became chief.

The blonde made her way through the short tunnel and jumped down into the cove, walking up to the pond and sitting on the shore with her knees to her chest. She looked around the cove and could almost laugh as she remembered when she followed Hiccup. She remembered being terrified of the Night Fury, but not for her; she had been more worried about Hiccup. So much so that she tackled him to the ground before she even thought to fight.

And, then he turned around and exerted control over the legendary creature. What would she have done if Hiccup hadn't gone after her and instead left like he had been planning? Would she have told on him? She wanted to think she wouldn't have, but Astrid knew she was looking back on the memory with a fondness for Hiccup now. Of course she wanted to believe she would've been on his side. But, she knew she would've turned him in and made him the most wanted outcast in Berk. Pridefully, too, because protecting Berk was her goal in life.

Then he would have no one on the island to miss him. How painful would that be to live with? Knowing every single person in the place you were born hated you? Astrid rested her head on her knees, letting her arms hide her face even though she didn't need to worry about anyone seeing her.

"I miss you, Hiccup," she whispered quietly to herself.

Astrid rarely cried, and rarely for anyone she barely knew, but Astrid...had always liked Hiccup. Admired him because he was so stubborn but also not full of himself. He was gracious and, frankly, his inventions were impressive because they were useful and he was only trying to help himself be a better Hooligan. She always liked it when he worked on her axe because he was good at what he did. A part of Astrid even got annoyed when no one believed him when he said he shot down the Night Fury. Sure, she didn't either, but she would've at least organized a search if she had the power just to make sure because it was a Night Fury for Odin's sake; he would've been a hero. The raids would've been easier to deal with without Toothless there to make things more troubling.

"If only I had become friends with you sooner," Astrid lamented. "I would've liked that."

There was a vaguely familiar sound that perked Astrid's ears, causing her to sit up and wipe her eyes before she looked around. She stood, holding her axe closely, and made her way around the cove carefully. When she didn't find anything, Astrid relaxed and lowered her weapon as she turned. Only to force back a scream when she saw a Deadly Nadder drinking from the pond. She froze, unable to move, as the dragon seemed completely oblivious to her presence.

She recognized the Nadder. It was the one that they had trained with in the arena. The one Hiccup had ridden to save Toothless; he had taken all their dragons, including the Terrible Terror. Only the Nadder had helped rescue Toothless, though. The other dragons disappeared to Gods knew where as soon as they were free, likely never to be seen again.

"H...." Astrid couldn't believe she was nervous. "Hello."

The Nadder looked at her when she spoke up, looking her over before noticing the axe and rearing for a fight. Astrid was quick to drop the axe and move away from it. Hiccup had told her dragons reacted badly to weapons. That was why he'd dropped his dagger and shield during the fight with the Nightmare. She was glad she didn't have a helmet to worry about.

"I won't hurt you," Astrid promised, raising her hands and moving further away from the axe.

The Nadder looked her over again before deciding it was safe to relax, preening her wings as Astrid spoke. She knew Toothless was smart enough to understand Hiccup, but that was a Night Fury. She knew nothing about the social intelligence of a Nadder. Battle, sure, but battle wasn't social. Not usually. But, that seemed to prove the dragon understood her enough to recognize she wasn't trying to be hostile. When the Nadder went back to drinking, Astrid relaxed and moved to get another angle on it.

Now that she wasn't focused on killing dragons, she could see the Nadder was pretty. And, had the crown always looked so majestic?

"Wow," Astrid breathed out. "You're actually really beautiful."

The Nadder looked up at her when she complimented it and at first Astrid thought she offended the dragon, making her go still. The dragon hopped over the pond and approached her carefully, making her tense as it circled and sniffed at her. It wasn't until she heard a quiet and gentle hum that she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. The Nadder bumped her and Astrid laughed a bit, letting it move in front of her before she held up her hand to cautiously rest on the Nadder's horn. There was a contented puff of air from its nostrils before Astrid smiled.

"You know, I always liked blue."


	15. Chapter 15

Hiccup looked up from his journal when he heard Jokul's familiar trill to find the lycanwing kneeling on Toothless's head, which the Night Fury didn't seem to mind. He smiled at the other as he sat up, wondering how long he'd been there, before closing the journal and returning it to his vest pocket.

"Good morning, your majesty," Hiccup said, smirking at Jokul's eye roll when he heard the teasing nickname he'd started calling him. "What're you doing all the way up here?"

"I saw Toothless hovering and wondered what you two were up to. Going to fill me in or am I going to have to figure out why you were drawing the island?" he asked.

"I will, but give me time to figure things out first. It's all just an early idea. It's not worth going into detail over right now."

Jokul's head tilted as he raised a brow. Hiccup's response only seemed to fuel his curiosity, but he shrugged and let it go. Clearly he trusted Hiccup enough to wait for him to be ready to talk about whatever was going on. Instead, Jokul flew over and sat behind Hiccup as Toothless started flying again, leaning his back against the ex-Viking's to relax and enjoy the flight with them.

"You said the other day that you shot down Toothless," Jokul said suddenly, catching Hiccup's attention. "What's the story behind that?"

"Now you want to know my story?" Hiccup asked.

"I've wanted to know for awhile. I'm not asking for the same thing I gave you. I just want to know how you and Toothless met," the other explained. "Despite what you clearly did to him, he still loves and cherishes you as his brother."

"...Toothless thinks of me as his brother?"

"That's what he calls you."

Hiccup was quiet for a few minutes, smiling at the realization. He didn't expect Toothless to think so highly of him. At worst, he had thought the dragon merely tolerated him since he couldn't fly without Hiccup; at best, they were friends.

"So?" Jokul asked, snapping Hiccup out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, right," he said. "You wanted to know why I shot him down."

"Does it have something to do with you saying you're used to disappointment?"

A bitter laugh was Hiccup's immediate response to Jokul's inquiry. Sometimes he felt Jokul was too smart for his own good.

"Yeah. I was the runt in the village. I was born early and got sick easily when I was a kid, so I didn't get to have the same kind of experiences others got. Didn't help that Stoick was overbearing; trauma from losing my mom and knowing I was at risk. So, I guess it isn't really a surprise I didn't grow up like Snotlout."

"Snotlout?"

"The heir. He's the chief's nephew," Hiccup said.

"Berk's chief doesn't have his own heir?" Jokul asked.

"...He did, but I’m pretty sure he died,” he said, voice quiet. “Anyway, I wanted to be one of them. So, I started trying, but nothing I did ever worked out. Just ended up breaking things or making things worse or, Gods forbid, _ both_. Eventually, the chief stuffed me in the smith where I couldn't cause too much damage and could be constantly watched by someone he trusted to keep me out of trouble. I wanted desperately to at least take down one dragon because I knew it would make things better for me. People wouldn't be so disgusted with me, I might be able to make at least one friend, and...maybe Stoick would be proud of me."

He'd done it because he didn't want to be a burden on Stoick anymore. He wanted Stoick's approval. Everything else had been secondary to him, even impressing Astrid.

"...Since I couldn't even lift a decent weapon, I made a bola launcher. Everyone kept telling me not to and to just stop making things worse for them, but I didn't listen. Maybe about a month before I left Berk, I took the launcher to the hill because the dragon I wanted to shoot down was the Night Fury; the one dragon no one on Berk had ever even seen and the one dragon that I would probably ever need to kill. Because if I killed the dragon that everyone feared, even the chief, it would've given me more than enough glory and nothing I ever did afterwards would live up to it," he said, his voice quiet as he recalled how he had been so ready to kill Toothless.

"If you shot him down, how did he get away and how did you two get to bond?" Jokul asked.

"Because no one believed me," the ex-Hooligan said, biting back the bitter tone the best he could. He didn't want Jokul to have to hear it. "No one even wanted to check because how could _ I _ have done something like that? So, I went to find him myself; I saw where he went down and even if Toothless did get away, he would've left plenty of evidence I could use to prove I did it."

Hiccup looked down at Toothless and smiled a bit. His bitterness was easily forgotten as he remembered the weeks they'd spent bonding.

"Found him tangled in the bola in the forest, but I couldn't kill him. I can't really explain why, but when I looked into his eyes, I just...didn't have it in me. He looked so scared, you know? It was like looking into my own eyes. So, I cut him loose. I don’t think I would’ve ever gone back to see him if I hadn’t been forced to start dragon training. I was told dragons always go for the kill, so I was curious. Toothless didn’t kill me. Think he wanted to, though."

"...You showed him mercy," Jokul said.

"So, he gave me the same courtesy. Yeah, I know. I found him in the cove after that and after I saw he couldn't fly since he'd lost one of his fins because of what I did, I felt bad. If he couldn't fly, he couldn't get away if anything happened. I made a replacement fin, but we both quickly realized he couldn't control it himself, so....Here we are," Hiccup said, smiling back at Jokul. "I'm glad I met him. Glad I had something in my life to make it bearable. It's a weird feeling, you know? I regret shooting him down and crippling him the way I did, but I also don't. Like....I don't know. It's weird."

Hiccup frowned then and earned a gentle coo from the Night Fury. He gave his best "I'm fine" smile before Jokul's weight left his back, making him look back to see the other move so he was flying now, keeping pace with Toothless.

"He probably saved my life," Hiccup said.

"Saved your life?" Jokul asked, earning a sideways glance from the smaller male.

"...I never saw myself as someone that would make it Valhalla."

Toothless hissed at Hiccup's words and Jokul looked sad. He knew they both understood what he had meant. One way or another, he would've stopped being such a burden to Berk. The idea had crossed his mind more than a couple times before he'd met Toothless. He'd even considered it the night Stoick had told him he would be starting training. It was just fortunate things had gone the way they had.

"But, hey. That doesn't matter anymore. Things turned out for the best for everyone in the end," Hiccup said suddenly, smiling at Jokul and hoping to lighten the mood. "Well, provided I end up being allowed to stay on the island for good."

"You can stay as long as you want. I'm not going to send you away. In fact, I would like it if you stayed. If the island could become a place you can call home," Jokul confessed, looking away from Hiccup as he spoke. "It's nice having you around."

Hiccup beamed at the lycanwing. He didn't say anything as he could see that Jokul would only be more embarrassed if he did, but he didn't think he had to anyway.

"Anyway," Hiccup said suddenly as he looked ahead, "you said Toothless calls me his brother. Did Snowfire think of you as her brother?"

"No. Snowfire saw me as her mate," Jokul said in a casual tone that aided in catching Hiccup off guard. "Not that I knew that until she was already gone."

"...She saw you as a mate?" Hiccup asked. "So, she...what? Wanted to lay your eggs?"

Hiccup wondered if he was the only one having trouble wrapping his head around what he’d just learned, but then he remembered he was in the company of a dragon and a person that was essentially a dragon himself. So, of course it was only weird to him. Jokul's laugh turned his head.

"Now, _ that _ would be weird. No, that's not what it means, though I had the same question when I first found out. It's a bit more complicated than that. Dragons aren’t like other animals; they're much more advanced, as I'm sure you've noticed," Jokul said. "Sure, when a dragon mates with another of its species, they'll of course have eggs. But, it's not base instinct like it is for something like a deer; they don't have eggs for the sole purpose of keeping their species alive. Something like _s__pecies_ means nothing to them. Dragons are purely emotional creatures."

He only partially understood what Jokul was saying. His expression must've shown his struggle to understand because the other laughed again.

"Okay, let's put it this way. Say that Toothless and an Armorhide courted each other. They can't have eggs together because they're not compatible, right? When a dragon takes a mate it can't have children with, something shifts in their brain and they lose interest in the idea, but that doesn't affect their ability to love one another. In fact, it’s common for pairs that can’t have children to adopt orphaned hatchlings or even young from other creatures," he explained as he sat behind Hiccup again. "It was the same for Snowfire. When she decided I was her mate, she never had any desire to have eggs with me. She just...loved me, and saw me as her equal. Though, she did turn out to be a pretty physical dragon and it's not uncommon for pairings like that to still be intimate with--"

"Whoa, okay. That's enough. I get it. No need to go into that much detail," Hiccup interrupted, shuttering at the image that had passed through his mind. "I do not need the image of dragons..._nesting_."

"Nesting isn't the word you'd use in that situation. Nesting is just dragons building and keeping nests. I think the word you're looking for is f--"

"Okay! I think we've been flying long enough! Toothless, if you would," the youth urged.

Jokul's laughter was enough to tell him he was just trying to get under Hiccup's skin now and he rolled his eyes irritably. As they descended towards the village, however, Hiccup couldn't help but start laughing with him.


	16. Chapter 16

_ Trust_, Hiccup realized, was a very strong word. He had been perfectly fine as Frostfang sprinted across the island with the rider on his back, Jokul gliding gracefully beside them as the two effortlessly made their way through the forest and over the rough terrain. It had been an incredible experience along with a great step in the right direction with the Armorhides, but those feelings died very quickly when they reached a cliff that dropped into the waters below them. Frostfang stood on the very edge of the island, his claws kneading the grass as he waited.

"Do you trust me?" Jokul asked again.

Hiccup looked over the cliff. He hadn't been scared of heights while he was with Toothless, but Toothless was a dragon with wings that was meant for leaps like this. Frostfang was not and though he knew Jokul probably had a plan, that did little to ease his nervousness.

"Uh. Well, yes, but um....Maybe we can talk things--"

"So, you trust me," Jokul interrupted.

He knew then that Jokul wasn't going to let him question things and when he looked up at the lycanwing as he hovered over the water, knuckle between his teeth as he waited eagerly for Hiccup's definite answer, the ex-Viking gave a sigh and smiled softly at him.

"Yes, Jokul. I trust you."

Jokul beamed and spun in the air before he said something to Frostfang that Hiccup could vaguely decipher as something along the lines of a go ahead and before Hiccup could question what was going to happen further, the Armorhide began moving back until he was in the trees. When Jokul joined them, the lycanwing gave a devious grin that had Hiccup regretting his decision instantly. Frostfang suddenly sprinted forward and when Jokul disappeared over the cliff, he followed soon after.

Hiccup screamed and clung to Frostfang as they plummeted.

He hadn't realized his eyes were closed tight until they were jolted open to stare at the scales in front of his face by Frostfang colliding with something, and then he was feeling wind in his hair. Confused and curious, Hiccup sat up carefully to peek out from behind the dragon's head and his eyes widened. They were sliding down an ice ramp. Jokul had made them a path, and still was. Hiccup smiled slowly before he was soon laughing as the feelings of fear disappeared. Before long, Jokul had finished the path he set out to make and returned to them, seeming pleased with how Hiccup's mood had changed.

"Told you you could trust me," the other teased, Hiccup sticking his tongue out him before laughing again. "You like it?"

"Like it? It's amazing!" Hiccup gushed. "Just tell me next time you have something like this planned."

"No promises."

Frostfang continued to sprint down the ice Jokul had made, but as the Armorhide began to near the end, Hiccup looked over at Jokul to silently ask what the plan was. All he got was a smile before Jokul joined him on Frostfang.

"You'd better hold your breath, Hiccup," Jokul warned, leaving Hiccup with barely more than a few seconds before Frostfang leapt off the end of the path to dive into the water.

Hiccup had been swimming before. He'd swam in the cove with Toothless and when he was a kid, Stoick and the other parents would take them to the rear beach during the warm months as an activity so they could enjoy the break from all the snow Berk got. But, he'd never gone beyond the shallows. Had never seen the sea clearly; mostly because he had always been too scared of sea dragons to do so. So, when Hiccup opened his eyes and found himself submerged in a whole world that existed under the waves, he was astonished. There were so many colors and schools of fish and more than a few dragons in sight.

It was by far the most beautiful of experiences he'd shared with Jokul over the last few weeks. Hiccup looked down as Jokul took his hand in his own, tugging on him to tell him to swim. The brunette let his friend guide him away from Frostfang and to the reef where Jokul soon started looking for something. Hiccup watched him curiously until he started having trouble holding his breath, swimming up and breaching the surface with a loud gasp. Frostfang joined him, crooning at him, and he just shook his head. He was fine.

It wasn’t long before Jokul joined them, pushing the hair from his eyes to look at his beta and new friend.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Just needed to breathe.”

“You’re smarter than me,” Jokul laughed. “First time Snowfire took me swimming, I forgot I was under water. She was not amused.”

“How did you forget you were under water?” Hiccup asked with a laugh.

“Go ahead and laugh. It was stupid of me,” the lycanwing said. At least he owned up to his mistakes. “You okay for another dive? I want to show you something.”

Hiccup nodded, letting Jokul take his hand again before the two dived back into the water where he was now more or less pulled along. Jokul’s ability to fly came in handy in the water; they got around quicker that way. The lycanwing let go of his hand as he approached a patch of long seagrass. He motioned for Hiccup to follow him, which he complied with, and watched as Jokul pushed the grass aside to reveal a nest.

Tide Gliders. A triplet of Tide Glider hatchlings. The three dragons were wide awake and stared at them, seeming torn between curiosity and wanting to flee. Jokul, however, seemed confident they wouldn’t as he reached his hand out to let the hatchlings get a feel for his presence. Much to Hiccup’s surprise, he had been right; the hatchlings didn’t leave. Instead, they stretched their necks out to carefully poke their snouts to the lycanwing’s offered appendage. They seemed to get used to him quickly. Hiccup remembered Jokul had said hatchlings were much easier to be friendlier with.

He was startled when Jokul took his hand again, this time guiding it towards the small dragons. Hiccup was admittedly nervous, but he trusted Jokul knew what he was doing. When his hand was close enough, Jokul moved his and let the hatchlings test Hiccup’s hand like they had his. Hiccup was relieved and ecstatic when they reacted just as favorably. So much so that he tried to laugh only to panic when water threatened to fill his lungs instead of air. Frostfang reacted quicker than his alpha, darting beneath Hiccup and swimming quickly to get him to the surface.

"So, about that whole ‘how do you forget’ thing," Jokul said jokingly as Hiccup finished his coughing fit, deflating against Frostfang to recover. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I just...forgot I was supposed to be holding my breath," Hiccup confessed sheepishly. “Guess I got too excited.”

Jokul snickered before giving a couple of clicks that had Frostfang turning and swimming back towards the island.

"That's enough of that for today."

"What? No, I'm fine. I can go again. I'll be more careful this time!" Hiccup said, practically begging.

"I'm sure, but Toothless will already be upset when he finds out you nearly drowned and I don't want to push my luck with him. We can go swimming another time, okay?" Jokul promised.

Hiccup pouted, but gave in. He knew Jokul was right. Toothless hadn’t liked the idea of leaving his brother in the care of the dragon that had tried to kill him the day they landed on the island. So, that was that. It was quiet as Frostfang swam them towards the island where the Fury would be waiting for them. Neither of them said or did anything until Frostfang turned into the lagoon. As the Armorhide neared the shore, Hiccup felt Jokul’s arms slide from behind him to wrap around his waist. He kept his eyes forward and showed no sign of having even noticed the lycanwing’s action.

Once Frostfang had reached the shore, Hiccup and Jokul dismounted. The silence remained as they stripped and dried their clothes. As they did, they looked out passed the lagoon as thunder rumbled in the distance. Sure enough, there was a storm on the horizon.

“...The summer season is ending soon. That means this one will be big,” Jokul said. “Will you two be alright in the village?”

“The smith is durable enough. If I reinforce it, we should be fine. Berk gets a lot of big storms, so I know my way around,” Hiccup reassured.

“You can stay at the nest if you want.”

Hiccup blinked, turning to look at Jokul. It was tempting, but he shook his head.

“You and I both know your flock is still uneasy with me and Toothless. It really would be selfish if you brought us back knowing they wouldn’t approve,” he argued. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. If it gets too bad, Toothless and I can just leave and wait it out somewhere else.”

There was an irritated chuff from Jokul that made Hiccup laugh a bit. He had learned Jokul didn’t like being told he couldn’t help someone. The alpha was a protector at heart. Whether that was a result of his draconic lifestyle or something he had as a human, Hiccup didn’t know, but it was admirable. If not a bit annoying at times. There was probably a bit of frustration from having his advance ignored, too.

He looked up at Jokul when he heard him chitter to Frostfang, seeing the two walking away.

“Jokul!”

Hiccup hurried over to him, grabbing his wrist to stop him from leaving. He didn’t know what he had planned to say or do, but when Jokul turned to look at him, Hiccup hesitated. They just stared at each other, Jokul looking at him curiously, before the brunette sighed and let go of him.

“Hiccup?”

“...See you tomorrow?” he asked in a pathetic attempt to save face.

“Of course,” promised the lycanwing.

“Good. Because I know you’re upset right now and sometimes you get distant. It’s kind of discouraging.”

There was a guilty chuckle from Jokul before the other lifted his chin, his thumb running over his scar.

“I’ve always had a problem with my temper when it got to me,” Jokul confessed.

“Yeah, well. Pretty sure everyone--”

Hiccup’s eyes widened when Jokul leaned down to press cool lips against his own. There was nothing particularly special about the kiss; it was just a peck that lasted only a couple of seconds. It was over before he even knew how to react. Hiccup watched as Jokul took a step back as Frostfang sprinted off ahead of him. There was a gentle croon from the lycanwing before he turned and followed after his beta, leaving Hiccup alone in the afterglow of what had just happened. A slight smile formed as Hiccup rested his fingertips against his lips.

Jokul had taken the words right out of him.


	17. Chapter 17

It was well into the night when the storm finally passed and Hiccup hadn't slept a wink. He had never been able to sleep much during storms, but there were other things keeping him up besides the obvious. One such thing was the collection of sketches laid out around him, illuminated by the fire they had lit. He felt strangely motivated to get them done as quickly as possible so he could share them with Jokul. Toothless had long since fallen asleep, leaving Hiccup alone with his pencil and his thoughts, though he wished the dragon hadn't as his mind strayed back to Jokul and the kiss he'd given him at the inlet.

He had noticed the changes in his behavior. Noticed the little hints and clues that were both subtle and obvious. But, Hiccup had done his best to remain unresponsive to them. It wasn't as if he was uncomfortable with Jokul's shift in feelings, nor did he find them unflattering; on the contrary, Hiccup was just fine with them. He was even happy with them. He just hadn't wanted to get Jokul's hopes up too much while there were still so many things to consider and overcome. The Armorhides, for one thing, had been much more tolerant of Hiccup, but there was undoubtedly still tension between them that could potentially put the lycanwing in a difficult position if things became hostile again. Hiccup didn't want to make Jokul have to choose between his flock and him. That was why he had been trying so hard to make things better with the white dragons.

Hiccup stopped working on the sketch of the council hall and leaned back, resting against Toothless's warm underbelly, as he looked out the window he had opened after the storm passed. Despite all the reservations he had, Hiccup would only be lying to himself if he tried to convince himself that he didn't feel the same way. Because, he _ did_. There had been a slow change in how Hiccup had felt about the lycanwing, too. There was no denying how, while Jokul would talk, Hiccup would sometimes lose himself in his eyes a bit too long or how he noticed small quirks in his body language in response to different situations. How he would bite his knuckles when he was excited about something to happen or how, when he was embarrassed or upset, he hid his head under his hood. Small things that Jokul didn't seem to realize he did.

Besides, even if he wanted to, it was too late to try and deny the truth now. Hiccup could still feel the coolness of Jokul’s lips against his.

A low growl brought Hiccup out of his thoughts and he looked at Toothless to see the Fury with his nubs flat against his head as he growled towards the window, shifting so that he was standing with his tail curled around Hiccup as he did when he was protecting him.

"Toothless? What is it?" Hiccup asked as he stood, resting a hand on the dragon's head.

Toothless didn’t even get aggressive around the Armorhides anymore, so whatever he was growling at had to be something new. Stepping over Toothless's tail and telling him to calm down, Hiccup walked over to the window and peeked out. His heart nearly stopped when he spotted the ship at the ruined docks and the torches as people disembarked, and he ducked while signaling to Toothless to put the fire out. Before long, the smith was dark and the two peeked out of the window carefully together. Hiccup looked at the sail and inhaled sharply.

Berserkers.

Hiccup got up and hurried to the door, motioning for Toothless to follow, but stopped when he heard footsteps on the dirt outside the smith. The two dove to hide behind the forge as the door opened and two of the Berserkers walked in carrying torches.

"I swear there was a fire."

"There’s still smoke. There was one recently."

_ Dagur_. Hiccup would recognize that voice anywhere and he gulped, moving back and further beneath the Fury as he attempted to keep himself calm. He didn't like Dagur at the best of times, but this was the worst possible way to meet him. He and Toothless watched as the two moved around the smith and Hiccup silently cursed himself when Dagur noticed his papers on the ground, kneeling to pick one up to examine it.

"...Someone is here," Dagur said as he let the paper fall back to the ground. "Find whoever it is and bring them to the ship."

"Yes, sir," the other Berserker, who Hiccup could only guess was Vorg, submitted before they both left.

The two stayed still as the Berserkers walked away and waited for the light from their torches to fade before they even thought to move. Hiccup hurried to gather his sketches and tucked them into the bag on Toothless's saddle before they hurried to the door, peeking out to make sure it was clear before they sprinted for the forest.

"You there!"

Hiccup tripped over something when they were noticed and turned, looking back to see Vorg charging at them. He looked at Toothless and bit his lip before pushing on the dragon to get him to leave. Just like on Berk, Toothless refused to leave his rider and looked ready to fight, but Hiccup wrapped his arms around his head to keep him from charging a shot.

"No, Toothless. Go."

A worried and hesitant croon was his response and Hiccup shoved the Fury again to get him to do as he said.

"Gods damn it, Toothless, just _ go_!"

He suddenly fell to the ground when Toothless sprinted off into the forest and Hiccup got up, looking back to see Vorg closing in on him. The rider ran off in another direction to keep the Berserkers from noticing and following Toothless, but he nearly ran into another of Dagur's crew and halted his sprint.

"...Hiccup Haddock?" the Berserker asked as if completely surprised to see him off Berk.

Hiccup scowled at the name, but turned and ran. Unfortunately, he was too close to get any distance between them before Vorg tackled him and nearly knocked the air out of his lungs doing so.

******

The nest was quiet at night. All the dragons were asleep, so no one was arguing and the hatchlings weren't running around or making noise. It was the perfect time for Jokul to lose himself in this thoughts, which he often did. And, on that night, his thoughts were on Hiccup. Jokul had been trying for days to get the right words out, but he wasn't blind; he could see Hiccup was actively avoiding his affections. When he kissed him at the lagoon, it had been a spur of the moment decision. There was a look in Hiccup’s eyes that clawed at his gut and he knew it wasn’t the best thing to do. But, he had done it, and Jokul didn't regret a thing.

Did he know it was a bit of a bastard thing to do to put Hiccup on the spot like that? Yes. Did he know there was a chance Hiccup would avoid him even more? Yes. Did Jokul _ care_? No. It wasn't nice, he knew that, but he had laid claim to the human and, one day, he would be his.

He just had to continue to try and hope whatever cloud was blocking Hiccup's heart would clear away soon.

"Gods, I sound like a bastard," Jokul said quietly with a laugh. "I wonder if this is how Snow felt about me."

"Help!"

The cry rang through the nest, rousing Jokul from his thoughts and the dragons from their sleep. Frostfang stood from where he had been sleeping behind his alpha while some of the others emerged from their nests. Before long, Toothless was in the main chamber and looking thoroughly panicked. Jokul noticed immediately he was without his brother and stood, approaching Toothless quickly as the Armorhides whispered among themselves in concern, both for the intrusion from the Night Fury and for the panic that coursed through him.

"Calm, Toothless. What is wrong?"

"Brother! Hiccup! He--I--"

"Toothless," Jokul said firmly, kneeling to take the Fury's head in his hands to get him to focus on him. His eyes looked as if he would be crying if he was capable of it. "**You need to calm down and focus, young one.** What is wrong? Where is your brother?"

"H-Humans. Vikings, in the village. Hiccup--He led them away,” Toothless informed, the calmness quickly fading as he returned to panic. “Please! Please, my brother is in danger!"

Jokul hadn’t expected his voice to keep Toothless calm for long as he was both still a hatchling and didn’t acknowledge the lycanwing as his alpha, but he was relieved it had worked long enough to get something out of him.

"Do you know for certain he is in danger?" Frostfang asked.

"Yes! Their alpha! He told them to bring anyone they found to the ship! Hiccup, he....He was scared. He was scared of them."

"Are they from Berk?" Jokul asked as he felt his heart race.

"No, but he knows them. I am sure of it. Please, Jokul! Brother could get hurt!"

Jokul picked up his crook and stood as he felt power course through him, his glow illuminating the area around him. He turned to Frostfang, who watched him as he waited for his orders.

"Frostfang, gather our best hunters. You will follow Toothless and I to the village. We will rescue Hiccup and drive these Vikings from our home."

"Yes, Alpha."

Jokul turned to the panicked Night Fury and rested a hand against his head softly, silently promising that they would keep his brother safe, before gliding up and onto the saddle. He had seen how Toothless's fin worked numerous times and felt confident he could do it. Once the hunters were assembled, Jokul and Toothless led the way out of the nest and headed straight for the village.


	18. Chapter 18

"Let go of me!"

Hiccup struggled against Vorg's grip and the ropes that bound his wrists as he was steered towards the ship. It wasn't until they were at the docks that Vorg let him go with a push, sending him to the ground. He groaned before looking up, his body going still when he stared into the familiar menacing green eyes of none other than Dagur.

"Hiccup? This is a surprise. What’s the son of Stoick the Vast doing all the way out here?" Dagur asked as he knelt, lifting Hiccup’s chin to look at him. Almost as if making sure he wasn’t hurt. "You're a long way from Berk, Hiccy."

"I always hated that name," Hiccup growled, his words surprising the young Berserker into a few seconds of silence before he burst out into his hysteric laughter.

"Oh, Hiccup, you've never talked back to me before! Whatever’s happened has done wonders," Dagur laughed before one of his crew got his attention. "Savage! You _ know _ I don't like to be interrupted when I'm in the middle of a conversation!"

"Yes, Chief, I know, but--"

"Then what is it!?"

"It's...Miss Heather, Chief," Savage said, moving back as Dagur approached him before the redhead stopped. "She's gotten worse."

Heather. That was Dagur's younger sister. Hiccup knew about her from Oswald, who was very open about both his children, but he had never met her. She never came to Berk. Supposedly, she was the one thing Dagur actually cared about. And, judging by how he completely forgot about Hiccup and hurried into the cabin of the ship, he guessed Oswald hadn't been exaggerating.

"Uh, Chief? What do you want us to do with the boy?" Vorg called out, but Dagur didn't seem to hear him. "Chief?"

_ Chief_. That wasn’t a good sign. What happened to Oswald? As Vorg followed after Dagur, Hiccup slipped away and hurried off the dock. He thought he had gone unnoticed until the back of his shirt was grabbed and he was yanked back towards the ship where he was made to sit where the crew could watch him.

"What are you doing so far away from your island?" Hiccup asked.

"Shut up, runt. We don't have to answer to you. Until the chief tells us what to do with you, you're not to say a word," Savage said with a very clear threat in his voice.

"Look, if you guys want something, you’re at the wrong island. It’s just me here. Let me go and--"

“What did I just say? _ Shut up_. No one wants to hear that annoying squeak of yours. One more word out of you and you’ll lose your tongue.”

Hiccup knew the Berserkers well enough to know when to recognize a bluff or a genuine threat. Savage was, to no surprise, being completely honest. So, Hiccup sighed and just sat back against the wood. There wasn’t much else he could do without risking harm to himself except wait. Hopefully for something in his favor. In the meantime, though, Hiccup picked at the rope tying his wrists to try and slowly loosen it. As he worked to get his wrists free, the ship rocked violently. It was quiet for a few moments afterwards save for the curious whispers of the crew, most of whom had lost their balance. Hiccup only noticed because the Berserkers were usually a very sturdy people.

“What was that?”

He hadn’t seen Vorg come out of the cabin. The crew simply gave confused mumbles in response, but when he heard a low hiss above him, Hiccup looked up. He watched as a black mass crawled its way from the head of the ship to the deck, moving over him until Hiccup was secured behind it. It would’ve been terrifying to anyone else, but to him, he felt nothing but relief.

"Toothless."

Before anyone could properly react to the Night Fury on their deck, the ship was swarmed by a group of Armorhides and chaos erupted. The dragons ambushed the Berserkers, Toothless sprinting forward to join in on the action. Hiccup took the opportunity to run off, sprinting off the boat and onto the peer. As good as the dragons were, they were few in number and before Hiccup could get away, he was grabbed again. This time, however, he was held against someone as a sword found its way to his throat, the steel pressing against him just enough to draw a thin line of blood.

"Call off your dragons, boy, or I will slit your throat," Savage threatened, his sword pressing harder against him. "Do it!"

"Toothless!"

The Night Fury looked to his rider and let out a roar as he ran onto the peer, moving towards them slowly until Hiccup winced as the sword cut deeper. The scent of Hiccup's blood must have clued Toothless in on the situation because he stopped, letting out a whine as he stepped back.

"_All _ of them," Savage ordered.

"The Armorhides aren't--"

"Do not play dumb with me, runt, and do as I tell you," Savage interrupted.

Before Hiccup could start to figure out what to do, knowing the Armorhides wouldn't listen to him, Savage's sword was suddenly at his feet and the Viking was gone with a scream and a splash. Hiccup looked up and smiled wide as he saw Jokul, in his transformed state, fly over and land on the mast to stared down at the ship. The fighting had stopped, the Berserkers focused on Jokul and the Armorhides making their way to stand defensively around Hiccup while Toothless approached him and hummed.

"I'm okay, bud. I'm okay," he reassured, resting his head on the Night Fury’s snout.

"What is going on out here!?" Dagur suddenly yelled, Hiccup looking over to see the redheaded Berserker staring up at Jokul. "And, _ what _ in Tyr's name is _ that_!?"


	19. Chapter 19

Hiccup sat quietly on the deck with Dagur and some of his crew a good ten feet away as Jokul and Toothless paced behind him. It was quiet save for the chittering going on between the Night Fury and lycanwing as they undoubtedly expressed their displeasure with Hiccup for agreeing to talk to the Berserkers. It wasn't as if Hiccup was given much of a choice; he had never heard Dagur use the word please. He felt both curious and obligated to hear him out, though the Viking had decided that he would tell Hiccup their story if they were told his.

So, Hiccup had told him what he was doing on the island living in an abandoned village. He omitted some details, of course, as not everything was important to what Dagur wanted to know. He didn't need to know Hiccup hadn't been officially exiled, though he was sure it had been solidified by now, and he certainly didn't need to know of all of the adventures he'd had with Jokul. Or, the kiss. He kept the details limited only to what was necessary, making sure to tell him Jokul was a lycanwing because no matter what they did, there was no getting out of that one.

"...Sounds like you've had it pretty bad, too," Dagur finally said as he leaned back to look at Hiccup. "Never thought that chief of theirs had it in him to exile you."

"Opinions change when you're suddenly dealing with a traitor," Hiccup said.

"Good point. Anyway, I bet you're still curious about what we're doing so far from Berserker Island."

"A little, yeah," he confirmed.

"Well, I'll start off by saying Berserker Island doesn't even exist anymore," the redhead said. "Or, at least, it might as well not exist anymore."

Hiccup blinked and looked at Dagur with wide eyes. It might as well not exist anymore? Jokul and Toothless stopped their nervous antics to stare at the other in surprise, too.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiccup asked.

"It means we were attacked and the island was devastated. They blew the mountain apart and the village was destroyed," Dagur explained. "A lot of people died. Only two ships worth of people got away, myself and Heather include. Dad...wasn't so lucky."

Dagur removed the helmet from his head and set it down in front of him. It had been Oswald's helmet, and apparently it was an heirloom passed to the chiefs. That explained his earlier question, though Hiccup couldn't say he was all that happy about it. He'd liked Oswald. Of all of Stoick's associates, Oswald had been the only one that had been nice to him. Too bad Dagur hadn't taken his example.

"Who attacked you?" Jokul suddenly asked.

"Oh! It speaks!" exclaimed Dagur, earning a glare from both Hiccup and Jokul. "Jokul, right?"

"Answer the question, Dagur," Hiccup said.

"So testy....What did I ever do to deserve the cold shoulder, Hiccup? I thought we got along so well. Don't you remember when we used to play together?"

"Yeah, I don't think there are many people that would consider your idea of fun as 'playing'. Remember when you nearly drowned me? I resent the chief for making me 'entertain' you," Hiccup said bitterly.

"He did what?" snarled Jokul, the lycanwing glaring death at the young chief.

"Oh, come on. I never let anything happen to you," Dagur argued. "So I played a little rough. I wouldn't have let you get seriously hurt. You were the only thing on that forsaken island that made the visits worth it. You were my _ friend_, Hiccup."

"Will you just tell us who attacked you?" the brunette reminded irritably.

Hiccup felt much more confident and capable now that he had Toothless and Jokul with him. He wasn't nearly as scared of Dagur as he had been before. The redhead noticed because he laughed again, though thankfully not in his usual hysterical fashion.

"I don't know who he was. He never said his name, and I have no idea where he came from. He visited the island to talk to Dad, saying something about 'conquering the world', but he didn't take too kindly to Dad refusing him," Dagur explained. "All of a sudden, an army of dragons descended on the island. It was terrible, Hiccup; there were so many dragons. And, they were armored. A lot of them attacked the mountain, but I have no idea why. They razed the island and then they left, leaving almost nothing."

Hiccup looked at Savage and sighed. So, that was why Savage had concluded so quickly Hiccup had control over the dragons. He'd seen it before.

"...Heather was hurt in the attacks. It’s been a slow process, but she was healing just fine until a couple days ago when her wound got infected. We docked here hoping we could find the herbs we need to treat her," Dagur continued. "I know it's a bad time to ask this, Hiccup, but could you help us?"

"Help you? Help you how?"

"Heather needs to be treated and a stable place to recover, and the rest of us have been at sea for weeks. We've barely gotten by. We need to recoup," Dagur said.

"You have got to be kidding me," Jokul hissed. "You want to stay on my island after you attacked my ma--friend?"

Hiccup raised a brow when Jokul cut himself off, but didn't dwell on it as he watched Dagur submit by bowing to them. It caught Hiccup off guard and he moved back, uncomfortable at the sight. Dagur didn't submit to anyone, not even Oswald.

"I'm begging you. We'll stay only as long as we need, and we can do any task you need done you can't do yourself. Heather can't survive much longer on the ship, and it won't be long before the rest of us die, too," Dagur begged.

"Absolutely not. We're done here. Let's go, Hiccup," Jokul said as he took Hiccup's hand in his own clawed one, pulling Hiccup along. "You have until morning to be gone."

"...I could use them," Hiccup said quietly.

Jokul stopped and looked at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I was...going to talk to you about it in a couple of days, but I guess now's a better time than any. Toothless?" Hiccup called to the Fury.

Toothless walked over to him and Hiccup pulled the papers from his saddlebag, turning to Jokul to smile at him as he saw the confused look on his face. It looked sillier than it did normally because his skin was now a pale grey and the fur of his body surrounded his face in a mane. The lycanwing had his wing-like arms folded, clearly not comfortable around the Berserkers, but Hiccup sat on the ground and unrolled the papers to reveal the sketches, some of them still incomplete.

"Are those buildings?" Jokul asked, kneeling to look at them. "Is this what you've been working on?"

"Yeah. I figured that since I'm going to be staying here, or at least I hope so, I should probably make a place I can actually live. Here, look," Hiccup said as he gave him the full sketch of the village layout. "This up here will be mine and Toothless's house, and down here where the great hall is, we'll have a training arena. There'll be a new smith where the old one is, and I was thinking we could have a garden with different herbs over in this area."

"...You want to rebuild Burgess?"

"No. I mean, if you're being technical, but that's not what I had in mind. I don't want to rebuild Burgess; I want to build Dragon's Edge," Hiccup said, sounding far too excited for an on-the-spot reveal. "I was thinking....Well, I mean....It would be nice to explore off the island since the world beyond the Archipelago is new to me. And, I thought Dragon's Edge could be our base, you know? And, I was...kind of hoping it'd make you more comfortable to visit me since you avoid the village as much as you can."

That wasn't even the half of it really, but there was too much for him to say at the moment. He would need a proper discussion with Jokul later on. For now, he just didn't want to send Dagur and his people to their deaths, and he could really use the free labor since it'd be difficult with just him and Jokul; and, that was assuming Jokul would help him.

"Let them stay, Jokul. We can treat Heather and they can help with the construction while they recover and get their bearings. It's not fair to all of them just because Savage couldn't keep his sword at his side," Hiccup pleaded, knowing full well it had been that act that had set Jokul off. "...Besides, they don't stand a chance against your flock. If they try anything, it'll be a death sentence. I'm sure Dagur has at least enough brains to know that."

"Hey!" Dagur interjected.

Jokul looked at the layout sketch and then back at Hiccup before sighing, handing the paper back to the brunette.

"...We'll have a more serious talk about this later after we've rested, but as long as they give their word to behave, they can stay. For you," Jokul relented.

"Oh, thank you very much. I promise, my people and I will be on our best behavior," Dagur assured.

"Jokul, thank yo--"

Hiccup yelped and felt his hair stand on end when Jokul suddenly leaned in and licked the wound on his neck, the Berserker's letting out gasps of surprise and shock of their own. When Jokul moved away, he looked at Hiccup's neck in satisfaction before saying something in dragon and flying off, all his dragons save for Frostfang following their alpha. Hiccup pressed his hand to his neck and found ice sealing the cut. He didn't realize he had smiled at the gesture.

"Thank you, Hiccup. I promise, you won't regret this," Dagur said.

"...Just make sure Heather's wound is cleaned and I'll see what I can do about it in the morning. There are plenty of houses, so choose whichever ones you want," Hiccup said as he stashed the drawings back in the saddlebag and mounted Toothless. "Good night, Dagur."


	20. Chapter 20

"Not everything is unusable, so there should be a small team of people to assess the debris for anything salvageable," Hiccup said as he let Dagur look through his sketches. "For now, we can start with the great hall. The quicker we take down the largest building, the better."

"You're really milking this," Dagur said, seemingly amused by how Hiccup took advantage of things.

"You offered free labor in exchange for a place to recover from your travels. I'd be stupid not to. Did you change your mind?" Hiccup asked.

"Nope. I'm just impressed," Dagur said. "The old Hiccup was such a pushover. I  _ like  _ the new you. The Great Hall, right? Is that all for today?"

"It's all we can do. Not a lot of people survived the attack on Berserker Island, and about half of those are kids. It's best not to overwork you guys."

"You have a point there. What are we going to do with the children?" Dagur asked.

"...I guess they'll just have to entertain themselves and stay out of the way. There isn't a whole lot they can do here," Hiccup said.

"They can go to the lagoon with the flock," Jokul said, startling both Hiccup and Dagur with his sudden entrance.

Hiccup smiled as Jokul made his way across the room to stand next to him, picking up and looking at the sketches himself. Even though he was clearly tense, it was good to see him. He'd made a clear effort to come into the village. That made Hiccup happy. It was a step in the right direction.

"Are you sure? Will your flock be okay with that?" Hiccup asked.

"I told you. What Icecrawler tried to do made them realize things went too far. They do want to move passed their hate, Hiccup. It won't be easy, but I'm sure interacting with children will be easier than adults since kids aren't as biased," Jokul explained, giving him a smile. "I can take them when we're done talking and make sure things stay peaceful. If it's alright with Dagur and his people."

"I'll have to ask, so I'll leave you two alone," Dagur said with a smirk that made Hiccup shiver. "Have fun!"

He wished Dagur was as stupid as he had always thought he was. He didn't like that he caught on to Hiccup and Jokul's attraction so easily. Even if Jokul had been obvious about it. At least he was only subtly teasing them instead of making a big deal out of it. The chief left as he grabbed his helmet, leaving the two alone to talk.

"...How's his sister?" Jokul asked.

"She'll be fine. I made a salve from Toothless's saliva and some herbs I was able to forage for. Whatever attacked her seemed to have some kind of effect on the healing process and that's why it’s been taking so long to heal properly, but I'm hoping the salve will make it easier," the brunette explained. "At the very least, even without the healing properties, the saliva will help keep the wound sealed. It's a very strong adhesive."

"It's good to hear she'll be okay. Dragon salve....Smart," Jokul said. "So, tell me about this Dragon's Edge."

Hiccup smiled a bit. Jokul didn't sound too upset. He seemed to have spent the last couple days thinking about what he'd learned on Dagur's ship and was ready to hear Hiccup out. That was good. Half his job was already done.

"Right," Hiccup said as he set aside the incomplete sketches and moved the one of the island layout to the center of the table. "I told you how I wanted to explore, right? And, how I wanted Dragon's Edge to be our home and headquarters? Well, I wasn't telling you the whole truth."

"Already figured that out."

"See, I got to thinking about things after I heard about what happened with you and Snowfire. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I think what Toothless and I have, and what you had with Snowfire, is how things should be,” Hiccup confessed carefully. “You told me that you’ve never been more  _ complete _ than you are when you’re with the dragons. When you swam with Snowfire and flew with the Skrill, you said it was a natural state. I feel the same way when I’m with Toothless. Back on Berk, the first time I touched him, it suddenly felt as if I had gotten back something I didn’t know I lost.”

Jokul raised a brow, moving to lean on the table to look at Hiccup as he spoke.

"Until I learned what Snowfire did for you, I never really thought about it. But, I started to after. Do you remember when you told me dragons believed their souls went to Vanaheim when they died?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah?"

"Humans were made by the Aesir. That’s why some of us are welcomed into Asgard, or at least Valhalla, when we die. What if the dragons were made by the Vanir?"

"You think they were a gift to humans from the Vanir?" Jokul asked.

"I wouldn’t really go that far....But, if they were sent to be our enemies, why would a dragon be able to give its life to a human? Or, speak to us the way Snowfire said elders could?” Hiccup asked. “I think there’s a connection between humans and dragons that might’ve been lost when they started fighting. And, if I’m right, then there’s proof of it out there somewhere.”

"...You want to find this proof. That's why you want to explore," the lycanwing concluded. "What does Dragon's Edge have to do with this?"

Hiccup sighed, running his hand over the back of his neck. This was the part he was more worried about. The part he knew relied solely on whether or not the Armorhides could forgive.

"Well, I was thinking....While on our travels, if Toothless and I found others like us....You know, humans and dragons that wanted to live in peace? We could, maybe, if you and the flock are okay with it....Send them here?"

Jokul was quiet as he processed Hiccup's words. His eyes widened just a bit when he realized what he was saying.

"You want to make Dragon's Edge a utopia for those like us. A sanctuary of sorts where they're free to live in peace."

"If...you'll permit it. It'll be awhile before the Edge is even remotely ready for that, so there's time if you're worried about the Armorhides. This was why I was hoping to get everything sorted out before I talked to you about it," Hiccup said.

The lycanwing rested a hand to his chest as he looked down, looking both sad and happy at the same time. Hiccup worried his idea had upset him and moved forward to rest a hand on his arm, Jokul turning his head to look at him.

"Is it a bad idea?" he asked.

"No, it's not that," Jokul said, his hand moving to hold Hiccup's. "I just....I don't know. I felt something in my heart just then. It felt like Snowfire. Like she was...giving her approval."

"You said the dragons told you she wanted something like that for you. Do you think that’s why?"

"Probably. It’s not the first time I’ve had this feeling," Jokul said before turning to Hiccup. "I like it. Like you said, the Armorhides will need to get over their hate, but I think it's a wonderful idea."

Hiccup beamed at the other's words, ecstatic he had agreed. He moved before he thought, hugging Jokul to thank him for...trusting him? He wasn't even sure what it was he was thanking him for, but he felt he had to. Hiccup didn't even tense as Jokul returned his hug and rested his head on his shoulder close enough to his neck to where Hiccup could feel his breath. It wasn't until Jokul's breath grew patchy and he thought he heard a sob that Hiccup's elation left him. He pulled away from the lycanwing, looking at him. He wasn’t outright crying, but he had tears in his eyes.

"Jokul? Hey, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked.

"...I'm just so glad you're not hurt. When I saw that Viking with his sword to you, I thought....For a second, I was terrified I was going to lose you," Jokul confessed quietly.

"Oh," he said before smiling. "Savage wouldn't have killed me. Not without getting orders from Dagur. He only did it because he wanted me to get the dragons to back off."

"I know. I heard, and I heard everything else, too," Jokul said, arms crossed. "His ears must be broken. Your voice isn't annoying at all."

Hiccup chortled and punched Jokul's arm softly at the compliment.


	21. Chapter 21

Hiccup jumped when a plate was set on the table near his hand, looking up to see Heather smiling down at him. He was glad she was doing better, but three weeks was still a long time considering the salve he had been using to treat her wound.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Heather said. "I wasn't sure if you had eaten yet tonight and since I made more than Dagur and I need, I thought I'd bring some over for you."

"Oh. Thanks, Heather," Hiccup said as he set his pencil down, sliding the plate of food over to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better. That salve you have is the stuff of the gods. I'll have to ask you how to make it sometime," she promised before looking down at the sketch he had been working on. "...What's that going to be?"

"A stable. I figured if there's a chance of finding more riders that want to come here, we'll need a place for the dragons. Or, it might...turn into a second nest for Jokul and his flock. I haven't really decided yet."

Heather tilted her head. She seemed as unsure about the nest idea as Hiccup was, but her eyes moved to look behind him and he turned to see Toothless staring at them. She'd been fascinated by him and Frostfang, but hadn't made any move to approach either of them. For Frostfang, that was probably best.

"Do you want to meet him?" Hiccup asked.

"Could I? Would he be okay with that? I know the dragons and my people didn't get off on the right foot," she reminded, earning a chuckle from Hiccup as he stood.

"Other than Savage, Toothless has calmed down and is comfortable around the Berserkers now. Jokul's still unhappy with them, but he seems to be holding Dagur responsible for any trauma he caused when we were kids. He'll get over it soon enough," he reassured before holding his hand out for her to take. "Do you want to? I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

There was hesitance from her, but Hiccup expected that. She had been attacked by a dragon after all, so of course she'd be nervous to approach one. But, after a minute or two of watching her struggle with herself, Heather walked over to him and let Hiccup take her hand to show her how to do it.

"The most important thing to remember is that you need to let the dragon come to you, or meet you halfway. Never try to reach out all the way. Hold your hand here, okay?" he instructed, moving his hand from hers and taking a step or two back.

It was quiet in the room as Heather and Toothless stared at one another, both of them seeming to assess the other; Heather was subtle about it, but the Fury was blatantly judging her by the look on his face. Hiccup watched with halted breath as the dragon lowered his head slowly to press against their guest's hand and beamed when Heather smiled and laughed.

"Wow," Heather gushed quietly, probably intending it to be to herself. "He's amazing. You're amazing."

"What? Me?"

"Yeah. I think it's incredible that you tamed a Night Fury, and I think your dad was a fool to exile and disown you for it," Heather said.

"I wouldn't say I tamed him....Toothless is still wild. He's just....He feels more like my brother than a pet. You know?" he asked, though he wasn't expecting her to really understand. "He's my best friend."

"I can tell. I've seen you two together a lot. You get along so well. I'm almost jealous."

The two shared a laugh before the door to the house opened and Savage stepped in, looking between the three of them and seeming less than thrilled to see Heather both with her hand on Toothless and getting along with someone he had a vendetta against for whatever reason. Hiccup was trying to be forgiving given their recent ordeal. Their black-haired guest rolled her eyes and turned to Savage with her arms crossed.

"What is it, Savage?" she asked.

"The chief asked me to make sure you were okay. Said you should've been back by now from bringing the runt something to eat."

"My name isn't _ runt_. It's Hiccup," the brunette corrected.

"It's the same thing, isn't it? Don't all the runts on Berk get called Hiccup?" Savage goaded, earning a snarl from Toothless. "Just stating the facts, _ Master Hiccup_. Miss Heather, we insist you return and get more rest."

Savage turned and walked outside, shutting the door behind him in a surprising show of decency. Heather sighed and looked at the two with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry about him. I'm sure he doesn't mean it," she said. "I should go before Dagur sends an entire troop. See you two later. Bye!"

"See you, Heather," Hiccup said as he waved.

When they were alone again, Hiccup sighed and slumped. Toothless bumped him with a questioning chitter, but he just shook his head. He hated to admit it, but Savage had been right. There wasn't a runt on Berk that wasn't called Hiccup, from yaks to people. For some reason, having that thrown in his face hurt. He hadn't even been worthy of a name of his own. Another nudge and Hiccup looked at Toothless, giving him a soft smile as he rested his head to the Fury's to reassure him he was fine. It was easy to let go of his animosities and forget about them when he was with the Fury.


	22. Chapter 22

Stoick was exhausted. He was drained in many different ways, from physical to emotional. There were many things that were piled on him that weighed down on him relentlessly. Physically, it was because of all the extra work at the smith he had been doing for the better part of almost two months. Something that shouldn't be so taxing on him, but when he spent the majority of the time arguing with Gobber who was more than open with him about his discontent on how Stoick had handled things with Hiccup, it was incredibly tiring. Then there was the raids. Not even two full months and they had suffered almost twice as many they normally suffered in that time. The dragons were relentless, and Stoick didn't even think they were attacking for food anymore as there was hardly anything left for them to take. It felt as if the gods were punishing them.

Emotionally, he was drained because of Hiccup. At first, he had been angry at the boy for choosing a dragon over his own people and he hated the dragon for stealing the boy away, but over time, his anger changed to regret and sadness as he realized slowly that it wasn't Hiccup or the dragon's fault. _ He _ had chased Hiccup away with his own actions and words. As he listened to the people practically celebrate Hiccup being gone with insults towards him, Stoick had started to see why Hiccup would choose a dragon over them.

No one loved him. No one but his father and mentor, and even then, it was easy to see why Hiccup wouldn't be able to realize that. Neither of them were particularly nurturing. It had been _ their _ fault the boy was gone. _ Their _ fault he would likely never see Hiccup again. If that dragon was able to fill the void that had been left in his soul by their neglect, why wouldn't he have chosen it over them?

_ "All you had to do was trust me. Just once. Why couldn't you even do that?" _

Stoick threw his helmet across the room as Hiccup's final words to him resonated through his thoughts, resting his face in his hands as he tried to forget the tears on Hiccup's face before he had flown off to who knew where. Those words and tears haunted him every day, even during the time he had been angry, and they wouldn't give him a moment of peace. Stoick would even see them in his dreams.

Valka must be punishing at him from Valhalla. Must be telling him in the only way she could that she would never forgive him for how he treated her boy. Who could blame her? Stoick certainly couldn’t.

"--of me!"

Stoick's door burst open, startling him to attention as Spitelout came in with Astrid's arm held firmly in his grip. Her wrists were bound and in Spitelout's other hand was her axe. The girl was thrown to the ground before Spitelout slammed the door and blocked it.

"What is the meaning of this, Spitelout?" Stoick asked, hoping he hadn't been crying and if he had, it wasn't noticeable.

"I found this little wench in the cove," Spitelout said as Astrid got to her knees and glared down at the floor. "I was wondering what you were doing leaving the village so much."

"Spitelout, what are you talking about? Out with it."

"She was with a dragon!" his brother-in-law yelled, tossing a Nadder's spine to Stoick. "She's been associating with them just like that filthy runt! I knew we should've killed him before he could fly off. Should've made an example out of him."

"How can you say that? Hiccup was your nephew," Astrid spat out.

"That boy was many things, but he was never my nephew," Spitelout countered. "And, I suggest you be quiet, little missy. You're in a very bad spot right now."

"Leave us," Stoick said as he stood, moving around the table to approach the two. He had never liked how Spitelout treated Hiccup and now wasn’t the best time to deal with it. "Go...tend to the arena or something. I'll handle this."

Stoick watched Spitelout leave, handing the chief her axe before doing so. Once again, his door was slammed shut and he sighed. He was glad his door was a sturdy one. He turned to look at Astrid, who was still kneeling on the ground with her head low while she shook in what was either rage or fear. He couldn't tell. Stoick set her axe on the nearby rack before he pulled his dagger from its sheath, kneeling behind the girl and cutting her binds lose.

"...Chief?" the girl asked wearily.

"Stand. Talk with me," he ordered before moving back to the table. "Why were you with a dragon, Astrid?"

She was quiet for a bit as she rubbed her wrists and avoiding looking at him directly, finding anything else to look at instead. Before long, though, Astrid did look at him.

"...I didn't start going to the cove to meet with her if that's what you're asking."

"Her?"

"Stormfly. The Nadder. My Nadder. I went to get away. You might be okay with what people have been saying about Hiccup, but I'm not. I trusted him and Toothless, and--"

"You knew about the Night Fury?" Stoick asked.

"...For a night. He and Hiccup took me on a flight after I found them together because they wanted to show me I didn't have to be afraid," Astrid said. "The Nadder just showed up one day not too long ago and she's come back every day since to see me."

Stoick leaned back as his heart felt as if it would stop at Astrid's words. Why did it make him so happy that Hiccup had made a friend now? When it didn't even matter?

"Chief, I--Look, I know I messed up, but....If you would hear me out," Astrid said.

He looked at her. She looked nervous, but determined. He sighed and waved his hand for her to speak. He wouldn't make the same mistake he had made with Hiccup. Besides, Stoick had always liked her, and had always known Hiccup had liked her, too. What a cruel twist of fate that he had lost his chance with her so soon after they had properly spoken to one another.

"Hiccup was onto something when he said we don’t have to fight the dragons. I've gotten to know Stormfly really well, and she's the sweetest thing I've ever met. Toothless was, too; he cared a lot about Hiccup, and we all saw that when he protected him against the Nightmare," Astrid said. "They don't attack us because they want to. The Red Death makes them because if they don't, they get eaten instead. If we could capture and train some of the dragons, I know we can protect Berk better. What better way to fight dragons than with other dragons?"

The Red Death. That had to be what she and Hiccup called the dragon the boy had mentioned during the confrontation with Stoick in the Great Hall. Stoick looked at Astrid as he went over what she said. Maybe it was because he was too tired to argue or maybe it was because he desperately wanted her to be right, but he stood to walk over to her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"...You are certain you can prove to us what you say is true?"

"Yes. I swear. I can show you he was right," Astrid said.

"Very well. Then I will give you a chance. Only one. Tomorrow, you will train one of the dragons we have in the arena," Stoick said. "In front of all of us. I pray to Odin you are right, Astrid."

Because if she was, maybe his son could finally come home.

******

Astrid knew close to nothing about training a dragon. She knew only what Hiccup had told her about how Toothless and him had bonded over drawings in the dirt and that Stormfly had taken very well to being complimented; which became clear was due to her being a very vain dragon as Astrid learned. However, she and Hiccup had discovered those methods on accident. Neither of them had been actively trying to get the dragons to like them when they happened. So, as she stood in the arena with the Triple Stryke and walked slowly in circles in a clear standoff with it, she had no idea what to do. She didn't even know why a Triple Stryke was this far into the Archipelago; they normally lived just on the border of it.

"Okay....How do I get close to you?" Astrid wondered aloud, taking a couple steps forward to try and approach. "Hey, there. It's okay."

The dragon hissed at her and unwound its tails, threatening to strike if she came closer, so she moved back again and flipped her bangs out of her eye in a huff. So, approaching herself wouldn't work. She had to find a way to bring the dragon to her. The dragon wound its tails together again before continuing to circle the arena, sniffing for something. Astrid watched curiously, making sure to stay an acceptable distance from the dragon. Before long, Astrid realized it was looking for something to eat. Her brows raised and she moved over to where Fishlegs stood in the audience.

"Hey, Fishlegs, do you still have that bucket of fish?" she asked.

"Yes....Do you need it?"

"I think it might help."

Fishlegs lowered the bucket to her and she turned, moving to where the Triple Stryke could see her before setting it down and flipping the top open to reach in and pull out a fish. There were, of course, complaints about a waste of food from some of the Hooligans watching, but she ignored them and moved back as the dragon stalked its way towards her slowly. They weren't entirely wrong; Berk was suffering a food shortage. But, it was for a good cause and she hoped they'd see that soon enough. If they did, they could fix their problem.

"You hungry? Here you go," Astrid called softly, staying still as the dragon approached her and took the fish from her hand. "See? I'm a friend. Do you want more?"

Astrid pushed the bucket over and watched as the Triple Stryke went for the fish. She waited until it looked content enough before getting closer, holding out her hand in an attempt to rest her hand on its nose, but that was clearly the wrong move on her part because the dragon hissed as it unwound its tails, each one darting forward to hit her. Astrid was, thankfully, very good when it came to reflexes and jumped out of the way of each strike.

"Astrid!" Stoick yelled.

"No, Chief, stay there! Don't ruin it again!"

If she survived, she knew she was in for it. The look on Stoick's face was more than enough to tell her the comment was not appreciated. She hadn't meant to say it; it had just slipped out in her panic. She moved away from the dragon as it continued to hiss and she held out her hands to try and calm it down. That didn't work and she was quickly avoiding more stingers. The dragon continued to attack her and she continued to dodge, her mind racing equally to figure out how to fix the situation and remember what the manual said about Triple Strykes.

All of a sudden, there was a stream of flames from outside the net and Astrid looked up to see Stormfly hopping around the metal chains and rods that trapped the dragons, firing off shots and spines at the dragon that threatened her rider. She had successfully distracted the Triple Stryke and Astrid panicked as it turned to Stormfly, returning fire with its own bright flame that Astrid needed to look away from.

"No, Stormfly, go away!" Astrid yelled, but of course she didn't listen. Toothless hadn't either. Both the dragons were very intent on protecting their riders. "Gods damn it!"

Astrid sprinted to the weapons rack and grabbed an axe, a mix of emotions fueling her as she accepted that she'd failed the task Stoick had given her, but as she ran towards the Triple Stryke to protect Stormfly, she stopped. And, listened. The dragon made a clicking sound before each strike of its tail. The blonde suddenly got an idea and dropped the axe, running to pick up two of Stormfly's spines.

"Hey!" she yelled to get the brown dragon's attention. "Over here!"

It chittered at her angrily before dropping from where it clung from the net, hissing slowly and menacingly, but Astrid stayed still and didn't let herself be intimidated. Instead, she hit the spines together to create a similar sound the tails made and watched as the Triple Stryke stopped its advance to listen. She did it again to keep its attention, moving in a slow circle as it followed her example. Soon enough, they were both giving their respective clicks and clacks as they almost danced around the arena, getting closer to one another with each step. Astrid mimicked the dragon's clicks, making sure to do the exact number it gave her. There was no reason for her deciding to do that; it was just what she felt she had to do.

Before she knew it, she and the Triple Stryke were face-to-face. Staring at one another in the eye. It gave a final click, which she answered with her own, before she dropped one of the spines and held her hand up to meet the dragon's nose. When she felt her hand rest against the scales of its snout, she smiled and sighed in relief.

"I told you. I'm a friend. You don't have to be scared of me," Astrid reassured. "...Sleuther."


	23. Chapter 23

Hiccup looked at the wood skeleton of the dome with his arms crossed, openly admiring it and how diligent the Berserkers had been while working on it. They weren’t as bad as their general reputation made them out to be. They seemed more like dragons; vicious fighters, but really just like people otherwise. Dagur especially. Despite being less stable than others, he’d been mostly mature about everything when he wore his helmet.

"Not bad. You guys are hard workers. Fast, too," Hiccup said. "We just need to make sure the dome works....And, we need the material to make the walls. Any luck with that, by the way?"

"Not a bit. We didn't exactly have a lot of time to load the ships with things other than ourselves. If only we could get in contact with some traders," the redhead almost lamented. "Wonder where Johann is right now."

"...No idea, but it's been almost four years since he last visited Berk. That's usually when he returns. Now that you mention it, setting up a trade route with Johann would be good for us. He travels all over the world, doesn't he? Bet some of the things he could trade would be really useful," Hiccup speculated quietly.

"We. Us. You two talk like they'll be staying."

Hiccup turned to Jokul as the lycanwing walked up to them, examining the dome.

"Maybe they will. They are really useful," Hiccup said. He was only partially joking. "Anyway, what's up? Problem?"

"...Why don't you use dragon skin?" Jokul asked. "For the dome. Depending on the skin, it'll have useful qualities."

"I am not skinning dragons just to make a dome," Hiccup said.

"You don't have to. Some dragons shed their skin naturally like snakes. Changewings and Slitherwings for example. Hobblegrunts, too," he offered. "Of course, Changewing and Hobblegrunt skin isn't very fireproof since they don't have very strong scales and Slitherwings are...very difficult to get close to, not to mention incredibly poisonous."

"You think the dome should be fireproof?" Dagur asked. "...Well, I guess that makes sense. If Hiccup plans on bringing back dragons."

"It would be useful. You can also make fireproof paint from dragon scales, and most dragons shed their scales _ a lot_," the lycanwing informed.

Hiccup blinked. He could do that? He looked over at Toothless, chortling as he watched the Berserker kids climb on him while Heather watched over them. Making paint that could resist dragon fire would be a useful trick. He'd have to keep that in mind. Looking back a Jokul, Hiccup gave him a smile.

"I guess instead of regular paint, we could make dragon scale paint. If we need black, we have the perfect dragon for it," he laughed.

"And, the flock has plenty of discarded scales to offer if we need white," Jokul said. "Not to mention the spines they fling from their tails."

The two laughed softly before looking at Dagur, who had deflated into a slump. Hiccup looked at Jokul, who only shrugged, and he rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong, Dagur?" Hiccup asked.

"You two are over here with your dragons. I want a dragon," he confessed. "Hiccup! Teach me how to train a dragon!"

"What? Dagur, I don't think I can help you there. The only dragons on the island right now are Toothless, a few Terrors, and the Armorhides, and they already belong to Jokul and I. What kind of dragon do you even want?"

"No idea. Something strong, though. Oh! And, mysterious!" Dagur announced. "And, no, Hiccup. I don't mean I want something exclusively from the Mystery Class."

"...Mystery Class?" Jokul asked, raising his brow.

"You serious? Is he serious? He's really disconnected, you know that?" Dagur pointed out.

"He's been alone with the Armorhides for three hundred years and dragons don't exactly put themselves into groups like we've done. Leave him alone, Dagur. I think his disconnect is charming," Hiccup defended. "Vikings sort dragons into classes based on their qualities and abilities. Toothless, for example, is a member of the Strike Class because they're considered the most intelligent of dragons and their general pinpoint accuracy. In fact, the Night Fury is the signature dragon for the Strike Class."

"Huh....Burgess didn't have a class system. The only dragons they ever encountered were the flock and some sea dragons during fishing. What class would the Armorhides be in?" Jokul asked.

"Sharp scales and spines they can dislodge from their tails in a fight? Sounds like Sharp Class to me," Dagur said.

"He's right. I'll teach you more about the classes some other time. Maybe you can guess which dragons you know about belong to which class. That should be fun," Hiccup suggested, yelping when he received a small blast of frost to his neck. "For the love of--Don't do that!"

"Anyway, I heard you two talking about someone called Johann. Who exactly is he?" Jokul asked as he knelt, leaning on his crook.

"He's a trader and merchant from the Archipelago that travels all over the world before coming back and selling the things he brings from foreign lands. I remember one time he sold some pottery from a place called Egypt to Dad. No idea what happened to that stuff," Dagur said.

"You probably broke it," the brunette joked.

"...Yeah. Probably. Maybe I should send a ship back to the island in case he shows up," Dagur thought aloud. “That alright with you, Chief?”

"Yeah, that's fine. I can write up a message to him if you want," Hiccup offered before he looked up from the plans at Dagur as he processed what he'd just said. "Wait. Did you just call me chief?"

"I did. That a problem?" Dagur asked.

"..._Y__ou _ just called _ me _ chief. _ Me_."

"Yes....You're in charge while we're here, aren't you? Besides, you keep up with this, you'll end up chief of Dragon's Edge. It is your village, after all," the redhead said, smiling and oblivious to just how strange that was to Hiccup. "Well, I better go get a crew ready. See you later, Hiccup."

Hiccup watched Dagur leave as unburdened as ever, but was quickly brought back to his other companion when Jokul elbowed him. He looked over at the taller male to see him grinning.

"He's not wrong, you know," Jokul said. "If this idea kicks off, the people you bring back will probably acknowledge you as their chief. The dragons, too. There's always a hierarchy when it comes to flocks and since you're the one that designed Dragon's Edge and you're the one that'll be letting those few out there know about it, that makes you the most likely to be in charge."

The brunette looked down as the weight of his decision suddenly came crashing down on him, his heart racing. He didn't think he'd be a very good chief. He wasn't much of a leader at all, and had never really demanded respect. He didn't want it; he had only ever wanted to fit in.

"I don't...think that's for me. Doesn't a chief have to stay in his village? I can't be a leader if I'm not here," Hiccup said, only slightly aware he was only trying to argue his way out of it.

"The duties of a leader is defined by the culture he or she comes from. A place like Dragon's Edge almost seems fitting for a leader that travels to expand his people, and I'm sure there will be someone you can trust to look after things while you're gone," Jokul said as he lifted his chin to offer silent encouragement in the form of a smile. "You'll be a great leader, Hiccup. You're already doing a wonderful job with the Berserkers, and they're not even your people. They all seem to respect your authority."

"Gods....I don't know....I didn't even think about leadership. The idea makes me nervous," Hiccup admitted. "I think I might be sick."

Hiccup stiffened when Jokul took his hand and brought it to his lips. His eyes smiled at him, urging Hiccup to calm down because there was plenty of time for him to think on things. Dragon's Edge was nowhere near complete. Letting out a shaky sigh, Hiccup nodded before letting his head rest on Jokul's chest. It surprised the lycanwing, but the soft purr he got let him know he didn't mind it in the least.

"Thanks, Jokul," Hiccup said quietly. "...Did you come to the village for a reason?"

"No, not really. We just haven't seen a lot of each other. Guess I just missed you, that's all."

That was true. Hiccup had been so busy with the dome that he hadn't had a lot of time to himself even though Dagur had insisted he let them handle it. He just wanted it to be perfect, so he was stubborn and supervised the whole thing. Jokul had come by on occasion to see how things were going and to have short talks with Hiccup, but things had hit a snag for them and neither knew what to do next regarding where they should or shouldn't take things between them.

Looking up at Jokul, Hiccup gave a smile before moving away and rolling the plans up to store in his bag. Jokul’s visit couldn’t have been better timed if he had tried.

"You're right. We haven't been spending a lot of time together. How about you and I spend the day together tomorrow? We can go on a long flight or spend the whole day swimming or...whatever you want," Hiccup suggested.

"Tomorrow's no good. The eggs are going to hatch, so I need to stay at the nest," Jokul said as he knelt to watch Hiccup pack all the papers he had into his bag. "...Hey, I know. Do you want to be there for the hatching?"

"What?"

"Yeah. I think it's about time you got to see the nest anyway, and to be honest, I'd love for you and Toothless to be there. It'll be the first clutch of hatchlings in three hundred years to be born without the expectation of being taught to hate humans. Having you there would be good for them," Jokul said.

"The Armorhides...?" Hiccup asked hesitantly.

"They'll be fine with it. They've gotten pretty close with the Berserker kids, and I'm sure they'll understand why this will be good for the flock in the long run. Besides, you’re my mate, aren’t you? You should make at least one appearance,” Jokul said. Hiccup couldn’t tell if he had said that jokingly or not. “Trust me, okay?"

"Jokul, of course I trust you. I'm always going to trust you."


	24. Chapter 24

Hiccup never would've imagined he would ever get to see the Armorhide nest. It had crossed his mind once or twice, and Jokul had offered before, but he always treated it as an unattainable dream. He also hadn't ever thought his visit would be received as well as it was. The Armorhides greeted him with gentle clicks and chirps that, as best as he could decipher, meant they welcomed him. Some of the hatchlings even ran around his feet to get his attention, earning laughs from both him and Jokul, before they turned their attention to Toothless. The Night Fury was less than thrilled to be bothered by the hatchlings and had even attempted to glide his way from them as they descended into the cave, but getting away from land-based creatures when you couldn't fly didn't often work out. The hatchlings were on him in seconds when he landed.

"Toothless really doesn't like hatchlings, does he?" Hiccup asked.

"My guess is that it's because he wasn't properly socialized with his nestmates, so he's not used to it," Jokul explained.

"...Toothless wasn't socialized right?"

"He told me once that he doesn't remember ever having a nestmate of his own, and doesn't even remember his parents. I'm guessing something happened that left him alone before he even hatched," the lycanwing said.

Hiccup frowned as he looked at Toothless. He hadn't really thought of where Toothless came from or where the other Night Furies were, having always thought that Night Furies were a solitary species. The kind that didn't even rear their young. Jokul made it sound like that wasn't the case at all and Hiccup felt sad for Toothless. He was also upset with himself for not showing interest in his brother's story until that point.

"Did he...grow up on his own?" Hiccup asked.

"More or less. He remembers a few dragons that helped him out, but it wasn't until maybe ten years ago that he was pulled into the Red Death's flock. Not exactly the best first experience as your first flock, I'm sure."

"Poor Toothless. I had no idea," he said quietly. "...Wait. How old is Toothless?"

"Hm? That was a bit unexpected. He’s your age. Fifteen. The hatchling stage of a dragon's life is relatively short. Most mature within thirty years. Dragons spend the majority of their lives as broad wings," Jokul said. "That's why you two get along so well like you do."

Jokul suddenly called out in their strange language, the hatchlings scurrying away from Toothless. The Fury seemed delighted by the peace and Hiccup smiled as he came over to rejoin his brother and the alpha. It was quiet between them as they made their way further into the cave, and when the cave expanded into a chamber, Hiccup looked around in awe.

The cavern was large, spanning the length of the entire mountain and continuing deep into the earth with a large stone platform being the only ground keeping them falling into the seemingly endless pit that surrounded it. Icy stalactites hung from the walls and ceiling. In the center of the stone platform was a large nest that Hiccup recognized as Jokul's from the few things he had said about the flock's home. As he walked, Jokul bumped him to get his attention. He was smiling at what Hiccup could only assume was the look on his face and his face turned red.

"Come on. Get on Toothless and follow me," Jokul said before he stepped off the edge of the platform, Hiccup having to again remind himself that Jokul could fly and he hadn't just sent himself to his death.

Mounting Toothless, the two followed after their friend only for Hiccup to be completely blown away by just how intricate the Armorhide nest really was. Beneath the stone platform, which was supported by a massive natural pillar, was so much more. The pillar not only had paths that he saw the Armorhides use to descend into the pit, but other smaller platforms that had a nest on each one decorated it as well. It looked like a giant underground tree, and the Armorhides were the birds that called it home.

"Impressed?" Jokul asked, Hiccup looking at him as he broke his thoughts.

"Impressed? Jokul, it's amazing. How...did they even get it like this?" Hiccup wondered aloud.

"The flock has been nesting here since before even Snowfire was born. Thousands of years of terraforming the nest made it into what it is now," he explained with a grin. "Eventually, we'll need to leave and find a new place to live since they can only dig so deep, but for now, it's home."

As they descended further, Hiccup saw there were door-like arches leading into separate chambers. They flew through one such arch that led to a fairly large cavern where the flock had gathered around a large clutch of eggs, and Jokul guided them to an icy platform that extended from the wall. Hiccup realized it was Jokul's own looking platform.

"...Hey, wait," Hiccup said as he scanned the flock. "Where are all the short wings?"

"They matured sometime last week and left a couple nights ago to find their own nests," Jokul explained before he laughed a bit. "You didn't think all the Armorhides in the world lived here, did you?"

Hiccup flushed at Jokul's question, crossing his arms and turning away from him. The lycanwing laughed at his friend's reaction, kneeling on the edge of the platform before quietly asking Hiccup to join him. After a couple seconds of pouting, Hiccup did just that, dismounting Toothless and taking a seat next to Jokul.

"Armorhides only spend ten or so years as hatchlings. If they do make it to the titan wing stage, they'll only spend five or six hundred years as one before old age takes them," the lycanwing further explained. "In about five years, the hatchlings that you see now will be mature and then we'll be welcoming the next generation."

"...So, that means Armorhides lay eggs every five years?" he asked.

"Give or take the months it takes for them to hatch, yeah. I think it's because they have so little time with the hatchlings that they get so angry when it comes to them being hurt," said Jokul before he smiled and nudged Hiccup. "It's starting."

Hiccup blinked and looked back at the eggs to find them shaking as the dragons inside fought against their shells. He watched eagerly, leaning forward to get as close a look as he could, and before he knew it, the first of the eggs broke apart and the baby dragon within it toppled over. It squawked and stood on its newborn legs the best it could as what Hiccup presumed to be the parents of the egg came forward to be the first to greet it. He smiled almost lovingly as he watched the flock welcome the hatchling and continue to do so with each new hatchling that burst from their shells. However, when the final hatchling burst from its egg, it was Jokul that went to greet it. Hiccup frowned as he looked at Toothless, the Fury covering his face in shame with his wings.

Icecrawler’s egg. He sighed. It would have one parent if Toothless hadn’t shot her mate down, resulting in the broken neck that killed him. Something he had only learned because they’d found his body, though headless, sometime after learning of Icecrawler’s death. Her death wasn’t their fault, but the death of her mate certainly was.

"You don't need to feel responsible, Hiccup. You and Toothless were only trying to help."

Right. As if that was going to help. It didn’t change the fact that they’d left a hatchling without its father. Hiccup looked up at Jokul and noticed he was holding the orphaned hatchling.

"Everything okay?" he asked before the lycanwing offered the hatchling to him. "Whoa, wait. What?"

"Take her," Jokul urged, not giving Hiccup much of a choice. "Think you can care for her?"

Hiccup's brain must have shut down at the question because he couldn't do anything but stare at the other with a dumbfounded look on his face. Care for her? Him? Hiccup didn't know a thing about babies, dragon or otherwise. His closest experience to pull from was the time he took care of a bird that had fallen from its nest and even then, he had only been seven. It hadn’t survived in his care.

"Jokul...?"

"Don't think you can do it?"

"Well, I mean, it's not...really that. I'm sure I could if you told me the basics. I just don't understand why," Hiccup said.

"It’ll do you good. If you’re going to be turning the Edge into a place for dragons, you’ll need to know how to care for them," Jokul confessed. "...Besides, even in a nest like this where all the dragons raise their young together, familial bonds are important. She needs to bond with a parental pair to be socialized right. The other pairs have already imprinted with their newborns.”

Hiccup refused to acknowledge the heat that burned his cheeks at Jokul’s words. He highly doubted the Armorhides could only imprint with one newborn and Jokul just liked the idea of raising the hatchling with him. Not that he found the idea repulsive. Hiccup ran his thumb over the hatchling’s soft scales as he looked down at her.

“What’s her name?”

"What do you want to call her?" Jokul asked.

He blinked. He really should've expected it would be up to him to name the hatchling if he was being entrusted with her. Hiccup, however, wasn't very good with names. He'd named his best friend _ Toothless _ for crying out loud, and that wasn't even something he'd said as a name; it had just been an observation that stuck. But, as he watched the hatchling adjust herself to be comfortable, Hiccup just let himself feel rather than think.

"...Snowstalker," he said suddenly. "I'll call her Snowstalker."

Jokul let out a series of chirps as he reached up to gently run his hand over Snowstalker's scales before leaning forward to surprise Hiccup with another kiss. This one was at least longer than the one at the lagoon and, despite himself, Hiccup leaned into it. Jokul pulled away all too soon for the brunette's liking, though.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Sorry," Jokul said. "Couldn't help myself. You just look so cute with her, that's all."

"You kissed me because you like how I look with a kid?" Hiccup teased. "Don't go treating me like a wife now. I'll have you know I have _ some _ pride."

"Wouldn't dream of it. If I wanted a wife, I'd look for one."

Hiccup and Jokul laughed at their playful banter before he looked down at Snowstalker. He was careful as he held her, smiling at her softly, before he suddenly let his head fall slightly. Jokul seemed to grow concerned as he chittered at him. Hiccup shook his head and looked up at the other in response to his worried sounds.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" Jokul asked.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup said. "I just didn't expect today to be so special, that's all. I mean, I wanted it to be, but I guess I was just overwhelmed by how it turned out."

Jokul looked at him curiously, though he was still very obviously worried about the other's reaction.

"You wanted it to be special? Why today in particular?" the lycanwing asked.

Hiccup smiled at Jokul, moving so that he was leaning with his back against Jokul's chest, taking comfort in the coolness that radiated from him.

"Because it's been a long time since I've had a proper celebration," he confessed before looking up at the confused look in his lover’s eyes. "I turn sixteen today."

Jokul blinked, processing the brunette’s words, before his arms wrapped around him to pull Hiccup close. There was a quiet laugh from Jokul as Toothless chirped something. He looked back at the lycanwing curiously as he waited for a translation.

“You two were born for one another," Jokul said.

"Going to fill me in on what that means?"

Jokul smiled at him then.

"Toothless turns sixteen today, too.”


	25. Chapter 25

Hiccup looked up from the paper to the dome as the Berserkers stretched the final sheet of leather to cover the last hole. A smile crossed his face as he took a step back to admire it. It wasn't done, of course, as it was just plain leather and needed to be painted, but it was functional at the least. Rolling the paper in his hand, he held it up with a proud grin as he looked at the Berserkers.

"That's it!" he called, earning a collective cheer from them and a hard pat on the back from Dagur before the chief went off to see to other projects. "It just needs to be painted, but I can worry about that later."

"That is wonderful news, Master Hiccup. I do have paints you can help yourself to if you would like," Johann offered.

"Are they made from dragon scales?" he asked as he turned to Johann.

"...I'm afraid not. Is there something special about dragon scale paint?" asked the merchant, seeming very much interested. Probably for business reasons.

"Paint made from dragon scales is apparently fireproof. If we're going to be using the arena to train dragons, it needs to be as resistant to their fire as possible. Otherwise we'd just waste a lot of leather to repair it."

"Oh, that sounds like a genius idea, Master Hiccup. Perhaps it could be an export of Dragon's Edge."

Hiccup snorted. He knew it. Well, he couldn't be upset. Johann was a trader and though he had given Hiccup free reign over his cargo for any materials he needed, he couldn't expect him to not care about it. Besides, it would make up for all his wares they ended up needing.

"Sounds like a plan, Johann. And, thank you again," Hiccup said. "Your generosity has been a great help."

"Oh, think nothing of it. I am more than happy to assist you. I did always like you, Master Hiccup. I was very concerned when I heard you'd been exiled from Berk, you know," the trader admitted. "I feared the worst, and I'm so very glad Master Dagur sent a crew to Berserker Island to meet me."

Berk. Hiccup frowned at the mention of the village that had been a distant memory for the better part of three months. For some reason, since Johann came to the Edge, it had crossed his mind more and more. Looking at Johann, Hiccup wanted to ask how Berk was doing, but he didn't even know how to.

"Speaking of Berserker Island," Heather interjected, causing the two to look at her, "Dagur and I were talking last night about what to do regarding that."

He had expected that eventually and Hiccup sighed, giving a small smile. Johann went off to leave Hiccup and Heather alone to talk, probably to talk business with others, and Toothless looked between them. He looked annoyed that he would be looking after Snowstalker longer than what was agreed, but Hiccup smiled apologetically at him to ask him to just wait a bit longer.

"You guys are leaving?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, some of us. Dagur wants to rebuild our home, but we still need a place for those that can't help, like the children, to stay. He wanted me to talk to you. I think the idea makes him emotional," Heather laughed. "He’s actually very sensitive, you know."

Hiccup would never get used to how much Dagur had actually cared about him. It was more out of shock than anything considering how he was treated, but he'd come to understand the somewhat unstable Berserker better to know he didn't think to be more delicate with Hiccup. He was just another boy to him, not some runt to be treated like he would break at the slightest poke. Honestly, how he hadn't appreciated the behavior before was beyond Hiccup when Dagur had been the only one to give him the treatment he had always wanted.

"You guys are welcome to use Dragon's Edge as a shelter until the island is habitable again. And, what about you? I've noticed you've been talking a lot with Jokul about something."

"Oh, you saw all that?" she asked, sounding not at all surprised. "I was asking him about dragons and what kind of dragon he thought would be a good match for me."

"What'd he suggest?"

All he got was a mischievous smirk as she held her finger to her lips to silently tell him it was a surprised and he'd just have to wait until she found one. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"When will the crew be leaving?" Hiccup asked.

"We're hoping to be ready by tomorrow, but if you need us here longer, we can wait," she said.

"No, it's alright. Not all of you will be going, so I won't be left to my own devices. Besides, I wouldn't stop you from returning home," he assured, his mind going back to Berk again. "...Hey, Heather? Can I talk to you about something?"

******

Hiccup watched as Heather set her mug down after taking a long drink after listening to him. It was the first time he had talked about it to anyone. He hadn't even said anything about it to Toothless, worried he would let something slip around Jokul and make the lycanwing worry about him more than he did on a general basis.

"You really haven’t mentioned it to anyone else?" she asked

"No one. I can’t tell Toothless because then Jokul might clued in and ever since we started raising Snowcrawler, he’s been much more possessive. I’m worried if I told him, he might think I plan on leaving when that’s really the last thing I want to do," Hiccup explained. “But, I can’t just ignore it either. It’s like there’s a bad feeling in my gut, but I can’t explain why. It feels like--”

"A message," Heather finished, once again saying it as if it were fact. "It feels like a message."

Hiccup sighed, nodding at her words. That was exactly what it felt like. It was something more than gut instinct. _ Something _ was trying to tell him to go back.

"I just don't know what it means and that worries me. For three months, I’ve all but forgotten about Berk. I haven’t thought about it much at all and when I have, it was only because it was relevant. It was never randomly brought up," Hiccup muttered.

"Hiccup," Heather said softly as she took his hand. "Don’t forget that no matter what happened on Berk, it’s still where you were born and raised. You still have people you care about there whether you like it or not. Your dad, Gobber, Astrid....You could just be missing them."

He frowned as he listened. That made it sound so simple. But, it didn’t feel that way at all. Hiccup sighed and rested his head in his hands. If that was the answer, then he would know it. He’d thought about Astrid before plenty of times, wondering how she was doing and even considered going back when the Edge was complete just to tell her he was okay and had a place for himself now. His thoughts of Berk felt nothing like that. He didn’t _ miss _ Berk and he certainly didn’t miss Stoick; there was nothing to really miss.

"What are you thinking about?" Heather asked.

Hiccup shook his head before the door burst open, startling him and Heather both as Vorg hurried in.

"For the love of Tyr, Vorg, you'd better have a good reason for--"

"The Edge has visitors," Vorg interrupted.

The two looked at each other before standing and hurrying outside after the Berserker, following him to the dome. As they neared the arena, Hiccup's steps slowed as he heard a familiar voice.

"I swear to Odin, if you touch a single scale on Stormfly or Sleuther, I'll hack all you bastards to pieces!"

"...Astrid?" Hiccup said quietly to himself.

He suddenly had a very bad feeling in his gut.

"We aren't going to hurt the dragons. Just--"

"Not going to hurt them? You had your dragons shoot us down!" Astrid yelled.

Hiccup sighed before he stepped into the dome, catching the attention of the two dragons; a Nadder and a Triple Stryke. Dagur was there, attempting to reason with Astrid, but the ice on the dragons' wings told him enough to know what had happened.

"That's not what happened. The Armorhides are just being protective of the island right now. Will you just--"

"Oh, sure. Because it's perfectly logical to shoot down two dragons minding their own business, right?" Astrid shot back.

When he saw Dagur clench his fists, he knew he had to interfere before something happened. However, before he could say anything, he spotted them and stepped around Astrid to stand next to Hiccup and Heather. His way of telling them it was up to them now. Astrid turned after a couple seconds, probably ready to be greeted by someone a lot more intimidating than him, and when her eyes landed on him, she was stunned into silence.

"Hey, Astrid," Hiccup said.

"Astrid?” Heather asked.

"Oh....I wondered why she looked so familiar," Dagur said, earning a hard punch from his sister. "Ow....Sorry....You know I have a hard time remembering people I don't care about."

"Hiccup...? Is it...really you?"

He looked back at Astrid and gave her the best smile he could before the blonde rushed to him, pulling him into a hug. He hesitated before returning it. He wished he could say it was good to see her again, but that feeling in his gut only got worse. Instead, he turned his attention to the Nadder and Triple Stryke. They were looking at the two of them curiously but also with protective glares. Hiccup let go of her and stepped away to approach them.

"You have dragons," he said, holding his hand up to greet the Nadder he recognized. "You...trained dragons."

"Don't go near Sleuther. He's testy around--"

Hiccup ignored her, walking up to the Triple Stryke while clicking with his tongue to keep him calm. The dragon soon knelt to greet him, letting him rest his hand on his snout. When he looked back at Astrid, the look on her face was priceless and he laughed a bit.

"I...learned a lot while I've been away. Looks like you have, too," he said. "Why are you here? Did...the chief exile you?"

"What? No. Hiccup, he sent me to find you," Astrid clarified.

The arena went quiet when Astrid told them why she had left Berk. It was then Hiccup noticed Jokul standing in the entrance of the arena, processing Astrid’s words.

"Berk’s chief sent you to find Hiccup? Why?" he asked.

"It’s obvious they’ve changed their ways," Heather said. "I bet he wants his son to return home.”

"...Stoick is the chief of Berk?" Jokul asked as he looked at Hiccup, confused and curious but not upset.

"Of course he is. Hiccup’s the heir to Berk. Willing to bet that’s why he’s so good at being in charge when he tries," Dagur said. "You didn’t know that, Jokul?"

“Hiccup told me the chief’s heir died.”

"He _ did _die. The moment that Hiccup decided to spare the life of a dragon, he died. Snotlout is heir now and I honestly don't doubt he was always the heir," Hiccup said. "What do you mean your chief sent you to find me?"

He could tell by the look in Astrid's eyes that she didn't like how Hiccup was defying his birthright, and she didn't like the image she got in her head of how the encounter was going to go. But, just as Astrid would, she didn't back down or retreat.

"He wants you to come home, Hiccup. Berk learned they were wrong, and almost everyone wants you back," Astrid said.

"Almost everyone," the lycanwing countered.

"Well, there's Mildew, but that old coot is just way too old to accept change. There's also Spitelout since he knows you coming home will put Snotlout back. But, everyone else does. Even Snotlout; he's the most excited. Something about comparing dragons."

"He’d be sorely disappointed,” Hiccup said in proud defense of his brother.

Hiccup was joined by Jokul and shook his head, telling him to calm down. His possessiveness was showing in his eyes, and while Hiccup certainly didn’t mind normally, nothing would be settled if he and Astrid started going after each others' throats. Maybe he never should’ve told him he had once had a crush on her.

"You found me," Hiccup congratulated. “You can tell Stoick you succeeded.”

"...You’re not coming with?" Astrid asked quietly. "Hiccup, you have to come back. Berk is your home."

"No, Astrid, it's not. _ This _ is my home. This island we're on right now. _ Dragon's Edge _ is mine and Toothless's home now," he corrected, firmly, as he crossed his arms. "Tell Stoick you found me, and if they really have changed, maybe we can become allies when we're ready, but I'm not going back to Berk. You should go."

Hiccup turned to leave, but was stopped when Astrid reached out and grabbed his wrist. He turned only slightly to look at her.

"Hiccup, we....We're sorry," she said.

"I heard you, and I believe you. I’m not angry, Astrid. I haven’t been angry in a long time. But, I can’t just uproot again. I have a place here. If I left, I’d be abandoning that and I can’t do that," Hiccup argued. “You expect me to abandon Dagur and Heather and _ Jokul_? For a place I never even belonged to in the first place?”

"Hiccup--"

"No," he said again, this time with a firm and final tone. "I’m staying here and that’s final."

"Then will you at least tell me how to deal with the Red Death?"

Hiccup turned to her completely, her tone no longer kind but rather angry and hurt.

"It shouldn't be a problem. The more dragons you take from her, the less power she'll have. She may even end up leaving once she loses enough of her flock," Hiccup said.

"Yeah, we tried that. But, the more dragons we capture and train, the more that just seem to replace them. There are even dragons that she’s never had before, like Sleuther. And, the raids are getting worse. In the last month alone, we've had five. _ Five raids _ in _ one month_, Hiccup," Astrid said. "I don't think the Red Death is happy with us."

Hiccup frowned as he thought about what she said. That didn't make any sense to him. Why would the Red Death continue to attack like that, and where was she getting all her dragons?

"She probably has eggs she can't leave," Jokul said suddenly, earning the gazes of everyone in the dome. "It's true that alphas will abandon a nest if it no longer proves good for them, but if the alpha has eggs, it can be difficult for them to do that since they might not be able to move them."

"Wait. You mean to say there might be more Red Deaths on the way? Well, isn't that just the best news I've heard all day," Astrid said sarcastically. "How do you know so much about the behavior of an alpha dragon anyway?"

"Astrid--"

"I just do," Jokul hissed out. "And, what makes you think you can ask Hiccup to risk his life by going back to a place like that? That’s pretty selfish of you guys."

"Ironic coming from someone who’s acting just as selfishly."

"Enough!" Hiccup shouted before Jokul could say anything and escalate things. "Astrid, you won’t talk to Jokul that way. Jokul, you need to calm down. Go find Toothless and Snowcrawler.”

“But--”

“_Go_,” Hiccup insisted. “Please.”

Jokul looked passed him, glaring at Astrid, before he turned and left as he gave in to Hiccup’s plea. Looking back at Astrid, Hiccup ran his hand through his hair before sighing.

“Come on. We can discuss the situation on Berk and figure something out.”


	26. Chapter 26

"Tuthless! Again!"

"My name is not 'tuthless'. Get off of me."

"Again, Tuthless! Again!"

Jokul watched as Snowstalker badgered Toothless to entertain her whims even as the Fury continued to try and get her to leave him alone. Any other time, he would find it amusing, but at that moment, he didn't. He was too busy thinking about the girl from Berk that had flown back into Hiccup's life and how she, if she was successful, would steal his mate from him. His hands held on tight to his crook as ice bloomed slowly from beneath his feet, only slightly glowing from his anger at the thought of it.

He wanted to turn her into a block of ice and sink her to the bottom of the sea. He wanted to tear her and her dragons apart for daring to even think of taking away what was his. He wanted her gone in any way possible.

He wanted Hiccup to never look at her the way he had again.

It had been such a brief look in Hiccup's eyes, but Jokul recognized it just fine. Hiccup had looked at her the way he would look at Jokul; with love and passion, albeit not as strong as what he saw when it was meant for him. It was a look Hiccup should only give to the one he intended to take as his lover and, until Astrid came along, Jokul had been confident that he would, eventually, formally court the lycanwing. Now, however, he was unsure and that angered him. It scared him.

It hurt him.

“Jokul.”

He turned his head and watched Hiccup approach to sit next to him. Though he was angry, he didn’t stop Hiccup from leaning on him. In fact, the contact calmed him down and his glow faded. After a few silent minutes between them, Jokul sighed and sat down completely and waited for Hiccup to migrate so he was leaning back against him so he could hold him. It had become their preferred cuddle.

“You’re leaving,” Jokul said finally.

“...Berk’s in danger. I can’t sit here and not help them. I might not be their heir anymore, but--”

“Your dad is there.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup confirmed. “I wasn’t lying when I said I’m not angry anymore.”

“I know you weren’t,” Jokul said with a smile. “When you lie, you play with your hands.”

He didn’t need to see his lover’s face to know he was as red as a Nightmare at the realization. Jokul could notice quirks, too.

“...I don’t plan on staying,” assured his lover, catching his attention. He didn’t know what to say to that, though, so all he could do was hum. “I’ll help them deal with the Red Death and when they’re safe, I’ll come back to the Edge.”

Jokul wanted to tell him no. Wanted to tell him he wasn’t allowed to leave and put his life in danger for a tribe that hadn’t ever wanted him until he was already gone. And, he wanted to tell him he was a fool for even considering it. But, he couldn’t because as possessive as he was and as much as he didn’t want Hiccup leaving with Astrid, there was also something else he couldn’t ignore.

Hiccup had a chance to do what Jokul - what _ Jack _ \- had failed to do. And, it was being offered to him on a platter. He would be cruel to take that from him.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

“I wouldn’t have left without telling you,” Hiccup promised. “...Besides, I need to know if getting rid of the Red Death will even be worth it if she has eggs.”

“Eggs need to be cared for, Hiccup. If you kill the one caring for them, they won’t survive long. It’s cruel and I know you probably don’t like the idea of killing a bunch of unborn dragons, but I’ve heard only terrible things from Toothless regarding his former queen,” Jokul said. “It would be best if she and her clutch perished. Something tells me this ‘great evil’ he goes on about is an inborn trait.”

There was a sad sigh from Hiccup as Jokul stated his opinion. As he suspected, Hiccup’s empathy was strong. But, he had no doubt Hiccup would do what he felt or knew what was right. No matter what that meant. Jokul was suddenly without his mate’s warmth against his chest as Hiccup moved, turning to look at him. He didn’t have time to ask what was wrong before he was on his back with Hiccup on him, hands pressed against his chest as he straddled him. Innocent gestures were enough to turn Jokul’s cheeks the slightest shade of pink.

He didn’t want to even know what his face looked like at that moment.

“Confident, are we?” he asked.

“You don’t have to worry about Astrid,” Hiccup said suddenly. “I might’ve liked her before, but anything I still feel for her means nothing. Not when I have you.”

Jokul looked up at Hiccup as he spoke. His word put any jealousy he had felt to rest. It should've made him more upset to hear Hiccup still felt something for the girl, but it was exactly because he wasn't denying it that Jokul knew he had nothing to worry about. If he had lied or tried to deny it, it would've been a bad sign. He reached up to pull his lover down by the front of his shirt suddenly. The kiss they shared was the deepest one yet and Jokul had to stop himself from laughing as he realized neither had any idea how to do it. He couldn’t be too surprised, though, could he? It wasn’t like they’d been very active.

When the two pulled away from one another, it was quiet again. But, as Jokul heard the distant sound of Astrid’s voice calling for Hiccup, the ex-Viking looked down at him with a smile and a determined shine in his eyes.

“Think you can work on the Edge while I’m gone?” he asked.

“Sure, but don’t be surprised if I add my own touch to your designs,” the lycanwing answered.

“Wouldn’t be home to you if you didn’t.”

Jokul laughed. He wasn’t wrong. The two looked over when Astrid called out for Hiccup again, this time much closer, and the brunette stood to walk over to Toothless. Jokul followed and plucked the hyperactive hatchling from Toothless’s saddle, watching as Hiccup mounted before handing her off to him so he could take her back to the village. He took Hiccup’s wrist then, but let go of it as his lover looked down at him.

“...I won’t say come back unharmed. You’re going up against a dragon the size of a mountain, so I know you’re going to get hurt. But, at least come home alive,” the lycanwing said, his voice almost a beg.

“Odin himself couldn’t keep me from coming back to you.”

Hiccup leaned down to rest his head to Jokul’s in a final farewell before he and Toothless took off to meet back with Astrid. The lycanwing laughed a bit. Hiccup wasn't a very combative person, so his words amused him. It was clear to him that Hiccup knew his place in the world and if he had to fight the gods to keep it, he was willing to.

The sound of leaves crunching beneath feet perked his ears and he turned expecting to see Frostfang, but was instead met with a sharp pinch in his neck. Jokul reached up and pulled a dart from his skin, looking at it as purple liquid dripped from the tip. He dropped the dart and raised his crook, moving away from where it had come from, but he suddenly grew very, _ very _ tired. His back pressed against someone, but before he could turn, he was kicked to the ground and heard a distinct snap before the broken remains of his crook was tossed to the ground beside him. He crawled away and turned to face his attacker, eyes narrowing even though he was already struggling to keep them open as he glared up at the scrawny Berserker.

“You--”

Jokul grunted as Savage pressed his foot down on his chest, keeping him on the ground. Whatever he'd been injected with left him too tired and weak to push him off and Jokul did his best to stave off the blurriness. The last thing Jokul heard was Frostfang’s angry shriek before the lycanwing was all but dead to the world around him.


	27. Epilogue

Cold skin flinching under his touch was the only sign he had that the boy still had some semblance of life in him, but that was all there was. No whines or groans or hisses; just an involuntary flex of muscle as the Tide Glider salve was applied to his wounds. It made him sick to his stomach to have any part of what was happening, even if it was just as a healer. He had never been very approving of Drago's horrid methods of training dragons, but he tolerated it because they _ were _ just animals. It was an entirely different opinion, however, when those same methods were applied to someone who looked no older than seventeen. It didn't matter that he knew what the boy was. It didn't matter that some part of him agreed he was unnatural.

What mattered was that he was human enough. So human that it tore at him that the boy no longer resisted Drago's "training". He had once been so defiant, going so far as to physically assault _ Drago Bludvist _ of all people to escape. That defiance, through thorough methods, slowly changed to whimpers and begging as he just wanted the torture to stop until something in him had finally broke after months. Now he no longer looked up from the wooden panels of the cell he was kept in. He hardly even ate unless told to by Drago himself; an unfortunately rare courtesy by the man.

"You'll be alright," he said softly as he applied the salve to the lashes across his back. "Everything will be fine."

It was all he could do. He didn't know why he bothered to try and reassure the boy. His spirit was broken; it would be a miracle if he ever recovered from everything he had been put through. But, he tried to help regardless. Even when he knew Drago would not approve, but then that was why it was a good thing Drago rarely came to the kennels. After he finished applying the salve, he wiped his hand clean with a rag and stood to leave. A soft voice spoke out, hard to hear but undeniably there, and he stopped to listen as the lycanwing began to utter that same name over and over again.

Hiccup.

His eyes closed as something tugged at him. Even through a broken spirit, the boy continued to hold onto whatever memories he had of this Hiccup. It hurt his heart in many ways. Heartbreaking was too weak a word.

"Hiccup, I...."

The boy's voice trailed off as it always did before he finished his thought and he left the cell, locking it behind him. He had no idea who this Hiccup was or what he meant to the boy, but a part of him had a deep admiration for them to have such a strong hold on a soul that was all but destroyed.

Eret desperately wanted to meet this Hiccup.


End file.
